Analyzing Global Components in Developmental Dyscalculia and Dyslexia

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Gloria Di Filippo

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The study examined whether developmental deficits in reading and numerical skills could be expressed in terms of global factors by reference to the rate and amount (RAM and difference engine (DEM models. From a sample of 325 fifth grade children, we identified 5 children with dyslexia, 16 with dyscalculia, 7 with a “mixed pattern,” and 49 control children. Children were asked to read aloud words presented individually that varied for frequency and length and to respond (either vocally or manually to a series of simple number tasks (addition, subtraction, number reading, and number comparisons. Reaction times were measured. Results indicated that the deficit of children with dyscalculia and children with a mixed pattern on numerical tasks could be explained by a single global factor, similarly to the reading deficit shown by children with dyslexia. As predicted by the DEM, increases in task difficulty were accompanied by a corresponding increase in inter-individual variability for both the reading and numerical tasks. These relationships were constant across the four groups of children but differed in terms of slope and intercept on the x-axis, indicating that two different general rules underlie performance in reading and numerical skills. The study shows for the first time that, as previously shown for reading, also numerical performance can be explained with reference to a global factor. The advantage of this approach is that it takes into account the over-additivity effect, i.e., the presence of larger group differences in the case of more difficult conditions over and above the characteristics of the experimental conditions. It is concluded that reference to models such as the RAM and DEM can be useful in delineating the characteristics of the dyscalculic deficit as well as in the description of co-morbid disturbances, as in the case of dyslexia and dyscalculia.

Development of the movement domain in the global body examination.

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Kvåle, Alice; Bunkan, Berit Heir; Opjordsmoen, Stein; Friis, Svein

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a new Movement domain, based on 16 items from the Global Physiotherapy Examination-52 (GPE-52) and 18 items from the Comprehensive Body Examination (CBE). Furthermore, we examined how well the new domain and its scales would discriminate between healthy individuals and different groups of patients, compared to the original methods. Two physiotherapists, each using one method, independently examined 132 individuals (34 healthy, 32 with localized pain, 32 with generalized pain, and 34 with psychoses). The number of items was reduced by means of correlational and exploratory factor analysis. Internal consistency was examined with Cronbach's alpha. For examination of discriminative validity, Mann-Whitney U-test and Area under the Curve (AUC) were used. The initial 34 items were reduced to two subscales with 13 items: one for range of movement and balance and one for flexibility. Cronbach's alpha was 0.84 and 0.87 for the two subscales. The new subscales showed very good to excellent discriminating ability between healthy persons and the different patient groups (p movement aberrations than the other patient groups. The new Movement domain had fewer items than the GPE-52 and CBE, without losing discriminative validity.

The development of global and domain-specific self-esteem from age 13 to 31.

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von Soest, Tilmann; Wichstrøm, Lars; Kvalem, Ingela Lundin

2016-04-01

This study examines the development of global self-esteem and self-esteem in 6 specific domains across adolescence and young adulthood. Using a cohort-sequential design, we analyzed longitudinal data on 3,116 Norwegian men and women from 13 to 31 years of age by means of growth curve modeling. Questionnaire data provided information on global self-esteem and self-esteem in social, academic, athletic, and appearance domains. Data on important life outcomes was provided by register linkages. Results showed increasing levels of global self-esteem and self-esteem in most domains with increasing age. Being male, higher parental education, and reported higher levels of parental care were related to higher levels of global self-esteem and self-esteem in several domains. Self-esteem in the appearance domain showed high and stable correlations with global self-esteem, whereas in social domains, correlations with global self-esteem increased over age, with a particularly steep increase for romantic appeal self-esteem. As to the prospective relationship between self-esteem and important life outcomes, results showed that participants high in academic self-esteem attained higher education levels and higher income, but most of the relationship was explained by covariates such as parents' socioeconomic status and school grades. Low global self-esteem predicted later prescription of antidepressants, even after controlling for covariates. This study is the first to provide a comprehensive picture of the development of global and domain-specific self-esteem throughout adolescence and young adulthood using long-term longitudinal data. The results underscore the importance of examining development of self-esteem in specific domains in addition to global self-esteem. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Simplicity and Specificity in Language: Domain-General Biases Have Domain-Specific Effects

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Culbertson, Jennifer; Kirby, Simon

2016-01-01

The extent to which the linguistic system—its architecture, the representations it operates on, the constraints it is subject to—is specific to language has broad implications for cognitive science and its relation to evolutionary biology. Importantly, a given property of the linguistic system can be “specific” to the domain of language in several ways. For example, if the property evolved by natural selection under the pressure of the linguistic function it serves then the property is domain-specific in the sense that its design is tailored for language. Equally though, if that property evolved to serve a different function or if that property is domain-general, it may nevertheless interact with the linguistic system in a way that is unique. This gives a second sense in which a property can be thought of as specific to language. An evolutionary approach to the language faculty might at first blush appear to favor domain-specificity in the first sense, with individual properties of the language faculty being specifically linguistic adaptations. However, we argue that interactions between learning, culture, and biological evolution mean any domain-specific adaptations that evolve will take the form of weak biases rather than hard constraints. Turning to the latter sense of domain-specificity, we highlight a very general bias, simplicity, which operates widely in cognition and yet interacts with linguistic representations in domain-specific ways. PMID:26793132

A generalized global alignment algorithm.

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Huang, Xiaoqiu; Chao, Kun-Mao

2003-01-22

Homologous sequences are sometimes similar over some regions but different over other regions. Homologous sequences have a much lower global similarity if the different regions are much longer than the similar regions. We present a generalized global alignment algorithm for comparing sequences with intermittent similarities, an ordered list of similar regions separated by different regions. A generalized global alignment model is defined to handle sequences with intermittent similarities. A dynamic programming algorithm is designed to compute an optimal general alignment in time proportional to the product of sequence lengths and in space proportional to the sum of sequence lengths. The algorithm is implemented as a computer program named GAP3 (Global Alignment Program Version 3). The generalized global alignment model is validated by experimental results produced with GAP3 on both DNA and protein sequences. The GAP3 program extends the ability of standard global alignment programs to recognize homologous sequences of lower similarity. The GAP3 program is freely available for academic use at http://bioinformatics.iastate.edu/aat/align/align.html.

General and Domain-Specific Contributions to Creative Ideation and Creative Performance

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Donggun An

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The general objective of this study was to reexamine two views of creativity, one positing that there is a general creative capacity or talent and the other that creativity is domain-specific. These two views were compared by (a testing correlations among measures of domain-general and domain-specific creativity and (b examining how the general and the specific measures was each related to indices of knowledge, motivation, and personality. Participants were 147 college students enrolled in a foreign language course. Data were collected on participants’ domain knowledge, motivation, and creative personality, as well as four measures representing “General or Domain-Specific Creative Ideation” or “Creative Performance and Activity”. Results indicated that the four measures of creativity were correlated with one another, except for “General Performance and Activity” and “Domain-Specific Ideation.” A canonical correlation indicated that knowledge, motivation, and personality were significantly correlated with the four creativity measures (Rc = .49, p < .01. Multiple regressions uncovered particular relationships consistent with the view that creativity has both general and domain-specific contributions. Limitations, such as the focus on one domain, and future directions are discussed.

Constructive-Developmental Theory and the Integrated Domains of Wisdom: Are Post-Conventional Leaders Really Wiser?

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Sharon L. Spano

2015-03-01

Full Text Available How leaders experience wisdom is important to our understanding of leadership behavior as well as to our overall understanding of leadership. The article explores qualitative findings that may advance academic discourse and research at the intersection between leadership, wisdom, and constructive-developmental theory. The present study examined how 12 executive leaders who assessed at the conventional and post-conventional stages of adult development experience wisdom. It is significant in that it addresses a gap in the literature between wisdom and constructive-developmental theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to determine how executive leaders understand their leadership role in terms of the cognitive, reflective, and affective domains of wisdom. Contrary to research that defines and operationalizes wisdom as the integration of these domains, findings indicate that participants experience wisdom in one or more of the domains of wisdom. Participants were also assessed for their meaning-making capacity to determine their stage of development using the SCTi-Map instrument. Contrary to research in constructive-developmental theory that suggests that post-conventional levels of development may equate to higher levels of wisdom, findings also indicate that there was no significant difference between how leaders describe their propensity for wisdom and their measured adult stage of development. Leaders who assessed at both the conventional and post-conventional stages of development described a propensity for wisdom. Analysis of participant responses suggests that the wisdom, in all its complexity, has its own trajectory and therefore necessitates inquiry into the lines of human development to include integral perspectives associated with spiritual, emotional, and psychosocial measures. The results of this study indicate the potential for additional research that explores wisdom in the context of both adult lines and adult stages of

[Contemporary cognitive theories about developmental dyscalculia].

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Castro-Cañizares, D; Estévez-Pérez, N; Reigosa-Crespo, V

To analyze the current theories describing the cognitive mechanisms underlying developmental dyscalculia. The four most researched hypotheses concerning the cognitive deficits related to developmental dyscalculia, as well as experimental evidences supporting or refusing them are presented. The first hypothesis states that developmental dyscalculia is consequence of domain general cognitive deficits. The second hypothesis suggests that it is due to a failure in the development of specialized brain systems dedicated to numerosity processing. The third hypothesis asserts the disorder is caused by a deficit in accessing quantity representation through numerical symbols. The last hypothesis states developmental dyscalculia appears as a consequence of impairments in a generalized magnitude system dedicated to the processing of continuous and discrete magnitudes. None of the hypotheses has been proven more plausible than the rest. Relevant issues rose by them need to be revisited and answered in the light of new experimental designs. In the last years the understanding of cognitive disorders involved in developmental dyscalculia has remarkably increased, but it is nonetheless insufficient. Additional research is required in order to achieve a comprehensive cognitive model of numerical processing development and its disorders. This will improve the diagnostic precision and the effectiveness of developmental dyscalculia intervention strategies.

Predictors of severity and outcome of global developmental delay without definitive etiologic yield: a prospective observational study

OpenAIRE

Thomaidis, Loretta; Zantopoulos, Georgios Zacharias; Fouzas, Sotirios; Mantagou, Lito; Bakoula, Chryssa; Konstantopoulos, Andreas

2014-01-01

Background Although several determinants of global developmental delay (GDD) have been recognized, a significant number of children remain without definitive etiologic diagnosis. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of various prenatal and perinatal factors on the severity and outcome of developmental delay without definitive etiologic yield. Methods From March 2008 to February 2010, 142 children with developmental quotient (DQ)

Domain-specific and domain-general constraints on word and sequence learning.

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Archibald, Lisa M D; Joanisse, Marc F

2013-02-01

The relative influences of language-related and memory-related constraints on the learning of novel words and sequences were examined by comparing individual differences in performance of children with and without specific deficits in either language or working memory. Children recalled lists of words in a Hebbian learning protocol in which occasional lists repeated, yielding improved recall over the course of the task on the repeated lists. The task involved presentation of pictures of common nouns followed immediately by equivalent presentations of the spoken names. The same participants also completed a paired-associate learning task involving word-picture and nonword-picture pairs. Hebbian learning was observed for all groups. Domain-general working memory constrained immediate recall, whereas language abilities impacted recall in the auditory modality only. In addition, working memory constrained paired-associate learning generally, whereas language abilities disproportionately impacted novel word learning. Overall, all of the learning tasks were highly correlated with domain-general working memory. The learning of nonwords was additionally related to general intelligence, phonological short-term memory, language abilities, and implicit learning. The results suggest that distinct associations between language- and memory-related mechanisms support learning of familiar and unfamiliar phonological forms and sequences.

Towards development of a high quality public domain global roads database

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Andrew Nelson

2006-12-01

Full Text Available There is clear demand for a global spatial public domain roads data set with improved geographic and temporal coverage, consistent coding of road types, and clear documentation of sources. The currently best available global public domain product covers only one-quarter to one-third of the existing road networks, and this varies considerably by region. Applications for such a data set span multiple sectors and would be particularly valuable for the international economic development, disaster relief, and biodiversity conservation communities, not to mention national and regional agencies and organizations around the world. The building blocks for such a global product are available for many countries and regions, yet thus far there has been neither strategy nor leadership for developing it. This paper evaluates the best available public domain and commercial data sets, assesses the gaps in global coverage, and proposes a number of strategies for filling them. It also identifies stakeholder organizations with an interest in such a data set that might either provide leadership or funding for its development. It closes with a proposed set of actions to begin the process.

Generalized global symmetries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaiotto, Davide; Kapustin, Anton; Seiberg, Nathan; Willett, Brian

2015-01-01

A q-form global symmetry is a global symmetry for which the charged operators are of space-time dimension q; e.g. Wilson lines, surface defects, etc., and the charged excitations have q spatial dimensions; e.g. strings, membranes, etc. Many of the properties of ordinary global symmetries (q=0) apply here. They lead to Ward identities and hence to selection rules on amplitudes. Such global symmetries can be coupled to classical background fields and they can be gauged by summing over these classical fields. These generalized global symmetries can be spontaneously broken (either completely or to a subgroup). They can also have ’t Hooft anomalies, which prevent us from gauging them, but lead to ’t Hooft anomaly matching conditions. Such anomalies can also lead to anomaly inflow on various defects and exotic Symmetry Protected Topological phases. Our analysis of these symmetries gives a new unified perspective of many known phenomena and uncovers new results.

Developmental aspects of fear: Comparing the acquisition and generalization of conditioned fear in children and adults.

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Schiele, Miriam A; Reinhard, Julia; Reif, Andreas; Domschke, Katharina; Romanos, Marcel; Deckert, Jürgen; Pauli, Paul

2016-05-01

Most research on human fear conditioning and its generalization has focused on adults whereas only little is known about these processes in children. Direct comparisons between child and adult populations are needed to determine developmental risk markers of fear and anxiety. We compared 267 children and 285 adults in a differential fear conditioning paradigm and generalization test. Skin conductance responses (SCR) and ratings of valence and arousal were obtained to indicate fear learning. Both groups displayed robust and similar differential conditioning on subjective and physiological levels. However, children showed heightened fear generalization compared to adults as indexed by higher arousal ratings and SCR to the generalization stimuli. Results indicate overgeneralization of conditioned fear as a developmental correlate of fear learning. The developmental change from a shallow to a steeper generalization gradient is likely related to the maturation of brain structures that modulate efficient discrimination between danger and (ambiguous) safety cues. © 2016 The Authors. Developmental Psychobiology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Concept of the Moral Domain in Moral Foundations Theory and Cognitive Developmental Theory: Horses for Courses?

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Maxwell, Bruce; Beaulac, Guillaume

2013-01-01

Moral foundations theory chastises cognitive developmental theory for having foisted on moral psychology a restrictive conception of the moral domain which involves arbitrarily elevating the values of justice and caring. The account of this negative influence on moral psychology, referred to in the moral foundations theory literature as the…

Domain general constraints on statistical learning.

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Thiessen, Erik D

2011-01-01

All theories of language development suggest that learning is constrained. However, theories differ on whether these constraints arise from language-specific processes or have domain-general origins such as the characteristics of human perception and information processing. The current experiments explored constraints on statistical learning of patterns, such as the phonotactic patterns of an infants' native language. Infants in these experiments were presented with a visual analog of a phonotactic learning task used by J. R. Saffran and E. D. Thiessen (2003). Saffran and Thiessen found that infants' phonotactic learning was constrained such that some patterns were learned more easily than other patterns. The current results indicate that infants' learning of visual patterns shows the same constraints as infants' learning of phonotactic patterns. This is consistent with theories suggesting that constraints arise from domain-general sources and, as such, should operate over many kinds of stimuli in addition to linguistic stimuli. © 2011 The Author. Child Development © 2011 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

The "where" and "what" in developmental dyscalculia.

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Henik, Avishai; Rubinsten, Orly; Ashkenazi, Sarit

2011-08-01

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a congenital deficit that affects the ability to acquire arithmetical skills. Individuals with DD have problems learning standard number facts and procedures. Estimates of the prevalence rate of DD are similar to those of developmental dyslexia. Recent reports and discussions suggest that those with DD suffer from specific deficits (e.g., subitizing, comparative judgment). Accordingly, DD has been described as a domain-specific disorder that involves particular brain areas (e.g., intra-parietal sulcus). However, we and others have found that DD is characterized by additional deficiencies and may be affected by domain-general (e.g., attention) factors. Hence "pure DD" might be rather rare and not as pure as one would think. We suggest that the heterogeneity of symptoms that commonly characterize learning disabilities needs to be taken into account in future research and treatment.

Early Childhood Developmental Status in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: National, Regional, and Global Prevalence Estimates Using Predictive Modeling.

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McCoy, Dana Charles; Peet, Evan D; Ezzati, Majid; Danaei, Goodarz; Black, Maureen M; Sudfeld, Christopher R; Fawzi, Wafaie; Fink, Günther

2016-06-01

The development of cognitive and socioemotional skills early in life influences later health and well-being. Existing estimates of unmet developmental potential in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are based on either measures of physical growth or proxy measures such as poverty. In this paper we aim to directly estimate the number of children in LMICs who would be reported by their caregivers to show low cognitive and/or socioemotional development. The present paper uses Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) data collected between 2005 and 2015 from 99,222 3- and 4-y-old children living in 35 LMICs as part of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) programs. First, we estimate the prevalence of low cognitive and/or socioemotional ECDI scores within our MICS/DHS sample. Next, we test a series of ordinary least squares regression models predicting low ECDI scores across our MICS/DHS sample countries based on country-level data from the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Nutrition Impact Model Study. We use cross-validation to select the model with the best predictive validity. We then apply this model to all LMICs to generate country-level estimates of the prevalence of low ECDI scores globally, as well as confidence intervals around these estimates. In the pooled MICS and DHS sample, 14.6% of children had low ECDI scores in the cognitive domain, 26.2% had low socioemotional scores, and 36.8% performed poorly in either or both domains. Country-level prevalence of low cognitive and/or socioemotional scores on the ECDI was best represented by a model using the HDI as a predictor. Applying this model to all LMICs, we estimate that 80.8 million children ages 3 and 4 y (95% CI 48.1 million, 113.6 million) in LMICs experienced low cognitive and/or socioemotional development in 2010, with the largest number of affected children in sub-Saharan Africa (29.4.1 million; 43.8% of children ages 3 and 4 y), followed by

Early Childhood Developmental Status in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: National, Regional, and Global Prevalence Estimates Using Predictive Modeling.

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Dana Charles McCoy

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The development of cognitive and socioemotional skills early in life influences later health and well-being. Existing estimates of unmet developmental potential in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs are based on either measures of physical growth or proxy measures such as poverty. In this paper we aim to directly estimate the number of children in LMICs who would be reported by their caregivers to show low cognitive and/or socioemotional development.The present paper uses Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI data collected between 2005 and 2015 from 99,222 3- and 4-y-old children living in 35 LMICs as part of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS programs. First, we estimate the prevalence of low cognitive and/or socioemotional ECDI scores within our MICS/DHS sample. Next, we test a series of ordinary least squares regression models predicting low ECDI scores across our MICS/DHS sample countries based on country-level data from the Human Development Index (HDI and the Nutrition Impact Model Study. We use cross-validation to select the model with the best predictive validity. We then apply this model to all LMICs to generate country-level estimates of the prevalence of low ECDI scores globally, as well as confidence intervals around these estimates. In the pooled MICS and DHS sample, 14.6% of children had low ECDI scores in the cognitive domain, 26.2% had low socioemotional scores, and 36.8% performed poorly in either or both domains. Country-level prevalence of low cognitive and/or socioemotional scores on the ECDI was best represented by a model using the HDI as a predictor. Applying this model to all LMICs, we estimate that 80.8 million children ages 3 and 4 y (95% CI 48.1 million, 113.6 million in LMICs experienced low cognitive and/or socioemotional development in 2010, with the largest number of affected children in sub-Saharan Africa (29.4.1 million; 43.8% of children ages 3 and 4 y

Domain-induced activation of human phospholipase A₂ type IIA: Local versus global lipid composition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leidy, C.; Linderoth, L.; Andresen, T.L.

2006-01-01

, we show that local enrichment of anionic lipids into fluid domains triggers PLA(2)-IIA activity. In addition, the compositional range of enzyme activity is shown to be related to the underlying lipid phase diagram. A comparison is done between PLA(2)-IIA and snake venom PLA(2), which in contrast...... to PLA(2)-IIA hydrolyzes both anionic and zwitterionic membranes. In general, this work shows that PLA(2)-IIA activation can be accomplished through local enrichment of anionic lipids into domains, indicating a mechanism for PLA(2)-IIA to target perturbed native membranes with low global anionic lipid...

Visuo–spatial working memory is an important source of domain-general vulnerability in the development of arithmetic cognition

Science.gov (United States)

Ashkenazi, Sarit; Rosenberg-Lee, Miriam; Metcalfe, Arron W.S.; Swigart, Anna G.; Menon, Vinod

2014-01-01

The study of developmental disorders can provide a unique window into the role of domain-general cognitive abilities and neural systems in typical and atypical development. Mathematical disabilities (MD) are characterized by marked difficulty in mathematical cognition in the presence of preserved intelligence and verbal ability. Although studies of MD have most often focused on the role of core deficits in numerical processing, domain-general cognitive abilities, in particular working memory (WM), have also been implicated. Here we identify specific WM components that are impaired in children with MD and then examine their role in arithmetic problem solving. Compared to typically developing (TD) children, the MD group demonstrated lower arithmetic performance and lower visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM) scores with preserved abilities on the phonological and central executive components of WM. Whole brain analysis revealed that, during arithmetic problem solving, left posterior parietal cortex, bilateral dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, cingulate gyrus and precuneus, and fusiform gyrus responses were positively correlated with VSWM ability in TD children, but not in the MD group. Additional analyses using a priori posterior parietal cortex regions previously implicated in WM tasks, demonstrated a convergent pattern of results during arithmetic problem solving. These results suggest that MD is characterized by a common locus of arithmetic and VSWM deficits at both the cognitive and functional neuroanatomical levels. Unlike TD children, children with MD do not use VSWM resources appropriately during arithmetic problem solving. This work advances our understanding of VSWM as an important domain-general cognitive process in both typical and atypical mathematical skill development. PMID:23896444

Generalized predictive control in the delta-domain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauritsen, Morten Bach; Jensen, Morten Rostgaard; Poulsen, Niels Kjølstad

1995-01-01

This paper describes new approaches to generalized predictive control formulated in the delta (δ) domain. A new δ-domain version of the continuous-time emulator-based predictor is presented. It produces the optimal estimate in the deterministic case whenever the predictor order is chosen greater...... than or equal to the number of future predicted samples, however a “good” estimate is usually obtained in a much longer range of samples. This is particularly advantageous at fast sampling rates where a “conventional” predictor is bound to become very computationally demanding. Two controllers...

Conceptual model of the globalization for domain-specific languages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Clark, T.; van den Brand, M.; Combemale, B.; Rumpe, B.; Combemale, B.

2015-01-01

Domain Specific Languages (DSL) have received some prominence recently. Designing a DSL and all their tools is still cumbersome and lots of work. Engineering of DSLs is still at infancy, not even the terms have been coined and agreed on. In particular globalization and all its consequences need to

Prevalence and sociodemographic determinants of developmental ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Birth order and household size also had significant association with delay in various domains. There was no significant association between socioeconomic class and developmental delay in any of the domains. Conclusion: The study showed that developmental delay was relatively common among under-five children in ...

Incremental and developmental perspectives for general-purpose learning systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Martínez-Plumed

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The stupefying success of Articial Intelligence (AI for specic problems, from recommender systems to self-driving cars, has not yet been matched with a similar progress in general AI systems, coping with a variety of (dierent problems. This dissertation deals with the long-standing problem of creating more general AI systems, through the analysis of their development and the evaluation of their cognitive abilities. It presents a declarative general-purpose learning system and a developmental and lifelong approach for knowledge acquisition, consolidation and forgetting. It also analyses the use of the use of more ability-oriented evaluation techniques for AI evaluation and provides further insight for the understanding of the concepts of development and incremental learning in AI systems.

Visuo-spatial working memory is an important source of domain-general vulnerability in the development of arithmetic cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Ashkenazi, Sarit; Rosenberg-Lee, Miriam; Metcalfe, Arron W S; Swigart, Anna G; Menon, Vinod

2013-09-01

The study of developmental disorders can provide a unique window into the role of domain-general cognitive abilities and neural systems in typical and atypical development. Mathematical disabilities (MD) are characterized by marked difficulty in mathematical cognition in the presence of preserved intelligence and verbal ability. Although studies of MD have most often focused on the role of core deficits in numerical processing, domain-general cognitive abilities, in particular working memory (WM), have also been implicated. Here we identify specific WM components that are impaired in children with MD and then examine their role in arithmetic problem solving. Compared to typically developing (TD) children, the MD group demonstrated lower arithmetic performance and lower visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM) scores with preserved abilities on the phonological and central executive components of WM. Whole brain analysis revealed that, during arithmetic problem solving, left posterior parietal cortex, bilateral dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, cingulate gyrus and precuneus, and fusiform gyrus responses were positively correlated with VSWM ability in TD children, but not in the MD group. Additional analyses using a priori posterior parietal cortex regions previously implicated in WM tasks, demonstrated a convergent pattern of results during arithmetic problem solving. These results suggest that MD is characterized by a common locus of arithmetic and VSWM deficits at both the cognitive and functional neuroanatomical levels. Unlike TD children, children with MD do not use VSWM resources appropriately during arithmetic problem solving. This work advances our understanding of VSWM as an important domain-general cognitive process in both typical and atypical mathematical skill development. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Intellectual Growth in Children as a Function of Domain Specific and Domain General Working Memory Subgroups

Science.gov (United States)

Swanson, H. Lee

2011-01-01

This study examined whether children's growth on measures of fluid (Raven Colored Progressive Matrices) and crystallized (reading and math achievement) intelligence was attributable to domain-specific or domain-general functions of working memory (WM). A sample of 290 elementary school children was tested on measures of intelligence across three…

Identifying interactions in the time and frequency domains in local and global networks - A Granger Causality Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Cunlu; Ladroue, Christophe; Guo, Shuixia; Feng, Jianfeng

2010-06-21

Reverse-engineering approaches such as Bayesian network inference, ordinary differential equations (ODEs) and information theory are widely applied to deriving causal relationships among different elements such as genes, proteins, metabolites, neurons, brain areas and so on, based upon multi-dimensional spatial and temporal data. There are several well-established reverse-engineering approaches to explore causal relationships in a dynamic network, such as ordinary differential equations (ODE), Bayesian networks, information theory and Granger Causality. Here we focused on Granger causality both in the time and frequency domain and in local and global networks, and applied our approach to experimental data (genes and proteins). For a small gene network, Granger causality outperformed all the other three approaches mentioned above. A global protein network of 812 proteins was reconstructed, using a novel approach. The obtained results fitted well with known experimental findings and predicted many experimentally testable results. In addition to interactions in the time domain, interactions in the frequency domain were also recovered. The results on the proteomic data and gene data confirm that Granger causality is a simple and accurate approach to recover the network structure. Our approach is general and can be easily applied to other types of temporal data.

Identifying interactions in the time and frequency domains in local and global networks - A Granger Causality Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guo Shuixia

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Reverse-engineering approaches such as Bayesian network inference, ordinary differential equations (ODEs and information theory are widely applied to deriving causal relationships among different elements such as genes, proteins, metabolites, neurons, brain areas and so on, based upon multi-dimensional spatial and temporal data. There are several well-established reverse-engineering approaches to explore causal relationships in a dynamic network, such as ordinary differential equations (ODE, Bayesian networks, information theory and Granger Causality. Results Here we focused on Granger causality both in the time and frequency domain and in local and global networks, and applied our approach to experimental data (genes and proteins. For a small gene network, Granger causality outperformed all the other three approaches mentioned above. A global protein network of 812 proteins was reconstructed, using a novel approach. The obtained results fitted well with known experimental findings and predicted many experimentally testable results. In addition to interactions in the time domain, interactions in the frequency domain were also recovered. Conclusions The results on the proteomic data and gene data confirm that Granger causality is a simple and accurate approach to recover the network structure. Our approach is general and can be easily applied to other types of temporal data.

Generalized Sudan's List Decoding for Order Domain Codes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geil, Hans Olav; Matsumoto, Ryutaroh

2007-01-01

We generalize Sudan's list decoding algorithm without multiplicity to evaluation codes coming from arbitrary order domains. The number of correctable errors by the proposed method is larger than the original list decoding without multiplicity....

On thick domain walls in general relativity

Science.gov (United States)

Goetz, Guenter; Noetzold, Dirk

1989-01-01

Planar scalar field configurations in general relativity differ considerably from those in flat space. It is shown that static domain walls of finite thickness in curved space-time do not possess a reflection symmetry. At infinity, the space-time tends to the Taub vacuum on one side of the wall and to the Minkowski vacuum (Rindler space-time) on the other. Massive test particles are always accelerated towards the Minkowski side, i.e., domain walls are attractive on the Taub side, but repulsive on the Minkowski side (Taub-vacuum cleaner). It is also proved that the pressure in all directions is always negative. Finally, a brief comment is made concerning the possibility of infinite, i.e., bigger than horizon size, domain walls in our universe. All of the results are independent of the form of the potential V(phi) greater than or equal to 0 of the scalar field phi.

Comparative study of occupational performance in children with global developmental delay at 3 and 5 years old

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrícia Isabel Candeias Fernandes

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Objectives: This study aims to compare the occupational performance of children with global developmental delay, inserted in SNIPI, and children with typical development, at 3 and 5 years of age, and to verify what functional areas children with global developmental delay feature more difficulties. Method: This is a comparative descriptive study including a sample of 40 participants, and 20 show Typical Development with 20 presenting diagnosis of Global Development Delay. These two groups were divided into two age subgroups of 10 children (aged 3 to 5 years. Results: The Inventory Pediatric Evaluation of Disability was filled out by parents and the results show that occupational performance of children with developmental delay, inserted in SNIPI is lower than those with typical development, with 3 and 5 years old, in the areas personal, mobility and socialization autonomy. Conclusion: The publication of more studies related to the practice of occupational therapy in Portugal is crucial, thus contributing to the knowledge of professionals and students in this scientific area. In addition, more and more evidence-based practice is an approach adopted by health professionals, including occupational therapists, and to this end it is extremely important to carry out newer studies locally in Portugal.

The Development of Global and Domain-Specific Self-Esteem From Age 13 to 31

OpenAIRE

von Soest, Tilmann; Wichstrøm, Lars; Kvalem, Ingela Lundin

2015-01-01

This study examines the development of global self-esteem and self-esteem in 6 specific domains across adolescence and young adulthood. Using a cohort-sequential design, we analyzed longitudinal data on 3,116 Norwegian men and women from 13 to 31 years of age by means of growth curve modeling. Questionnaire data provided information on global self-esteem and self-esteem in social, academic, athletic, and appearance domains. Data on important life outcomes was provided by register linkages. Re...

Insights into Hox protein function from a large scale combinatorial analysis of protein domains.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samir Merabet

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Protein function is encoded within protein sequence and protein domains. However, how protein domains cooperate within a protein to modulate overall activity and how this impacts functional diversification at the molecular and organism levels remains largely unaddressed. Focusing on three domains of the central class Drosophila Hox transcription factor AbdominalA (AbdA, we used combinatorial domain mutations and most known AbdA developmental functions as biological readouts to investigate how protein domains collectively shape protein activity. The results uncover redundancy, interactivity, and multifunctionality of protein domains as salient features underlying overall AbdA protein activity, providing means to apprehend functional diversity and accounting for the robustness of Hox-controlled developmental programs. Importantly, the results highlight context-dependency in protein domain usage and interaction, allowing major modifications in domains to be tolerated without general functional loss. The non-pleoitropic effect of domain mutation suggests that protein modification may contribute more broadly to molecular changes underlying morphological diversification during evolution, so far thought to rely largely on modification in gene cis-regulatory sequences.

Communication-Based Assessment of Developmental Age for Young Children with Developmental Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

DeVeney, Shari L.; Hoffman, Lesa; Cress, Cynthia J.

2012-01-01

Purpose: In this study, the authors compared a multiple-domain strategy for assessing developmental age of young children with developmental disabilities who were at risk for long-term reliance on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) with a communication-based strategy composed of receptive language and communication indices that may…

The diversification of developmental biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Crowe, Nathan; Dietrich, Michael R; Alomepe, Beverly S; Antrim, Amelia F; ByrneSim, Bay Lauris; He, Yi

2015-10-01

In the 1960s, "developmental biology" became the dominant term to describe some of the research that had previously been included under the rubrics of embryology, growth, morphology, and physiology. As scientific societies formed under this new label, a new discipline took shape. Historians, however, have a number of different perspectives on what changes led to this new field of developmental biology and how the field itself was constituted during this period. Using the General Embryological Information Service, a global index of post-World War II development-related research, we have documented and visualized significant changes in the kinds of research that occurred as this new field formed. In particular, our analysis supports the claim that the transition toward developmental biology was marked by a growth in new topics and forms of research. Although many historians privilege the role of molecular biology and/or the molecularization of biology in general during this formative period, we have found that the influence of molecular biology is not sufficient to account for the wide range of new research that constituted developmental biology at the time. Overall, our work creates a robust characterization of the changes that occurred with regard to research on growth and development in the decades following World War II and provides a context for future work on the specific drivers of those changes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

General spectral flow formula for fixed maximal domain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Booss-Bavnbek, Bernhelm; Zhu, Chaofeng

2005-01-01

and symplectic analysis and give a full (and surprisingly short) proof of our General Spectral Flow Formula for the case of fixed maximal domain. As a side result, we establish local stability of weak inner unique continuation property (UCP) and explain its role for parameter dependent spectral theory....... of the resulting continuous family of (unbounded) self-adjoint Fredholm operators in terms of the Maslov index of two related curves of Lagrangian spaces. One curve is given by the varying domains, the other by the Cauchy data spaces. We provide rigorous definitions of the underlying concepts of spectral theory...

A pre-registered naturalistic observation of within domain mental fatigue and domain-general depletion of self-control.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Randles

Full Text Available Self-control is often believed to operate as if it were a finite, domain-general resource. However, recent attempts to demonstrate this under transparent conditions have failed to yield positive results. In the current study, we monitor two groups of students (N1 = 8,867, N2 = 8,754 over separate 17-week intervals with 24-hour coverage, as they engage in voluntary learning and self-testing using an online program. We use daily behavior to assess whether time-of-day effects support domain-general theories of self-control. Additionally, we assess whether mental fatigue emerges within task during prolonged persistent effort. Results reveal within-task fatigue emerges within an hour on-task. However, there is a negligible effect on ability throughout the day. Additionally, time-of-day has no detrimental effect on motivation; rather there is a strong tendency to increase learning time at night. Results are consistent with theories indicating people lose motivation within a specific task, but at odds with theories that argue for a domain-general self-control resource.

An Exemplar-Based Multi-View Domain Generalization Framework for Visual Recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Li; Li, Wen; Xu, Dong; Cai, Jianfei

2018-02-01

In this paper, we propose a new exemplar-based multi-view domain generalization (EMVDG) framework for visual recognition by learning robust classifier that are able to generalize well to arbitrary target domain based on the training samples with multiple types of features (i.e., multi-view features). In this framework, we aim to address two issues simultaneously. First, the distribution of training samples (i.e., the source domain) is often considerably different from that of testing samples (i.e., the target domain), so the performance of the classifiers learnt on the source domain may drop significantly on the target domain. Moreover, the testing data are often unseen during the training procedure. Second, when the training data are associated with multi-view features, the recognition performance can be further improved by exploiting the relation among multiple types of features. To address the first issue, considering that it has been shown that fusing multiple SVM classifiers can enhance the domain generalization ability, we build our EMVDG framework upon exemplar SVMs (ESVMs), in which a set of ESVM classifiers are learnt with each one trained based on one positive training sample and all the negative training samples. When the source domain contains multiple latent domains, the learnt ESVM classifiers are expected to be grouped into multiple clusters. To address the second issue, we propose two approaches under the EMVDG framework based on the consensus principle and the complementary principle, respectively. Specifically, we propose an EMVDG_CO method by adding a co-regularizer to enforce the cluster structures of ESVM classifiers on different views to be consistent based on the consensus principle. Inspired by multiple kernel learning, we also propose another EMVDG_MK method by fusing the ESVM classifiers from different views based on the complementary principle. In addition, we further extend our EMVDG framework to exemplar-based multi-view domain

Advances in functional brain imaging technology and developmental neuro-psychology: their applications in the Jungian analytic domain.

Science.gov (United States)

Petchkovsky, Leon

2017-06-01

Analytical psychology shares with many other psychotherapies the important task of repairing the consequences of developmental trauma. The majority of analytic patients come from compromised early developmental backgrounds: they may have experienced neglect, abuse, or failures of empathic resonance from their carers. Functional brain imagery techniques including Quantitative Electroencephalogram (QEEG), and functional Magnetic Resonance Imagery (fMRI), allow us to track mental processes in ways beyond verbal reportage and introspection. This independent perspective is useful for developing new psychodynamic hypotheses, testing current ones, providing diagnostic markers, and monitoring treatment progress. Jung, with the Word Association Test, grasped these principles 100 years ago. Brain imaging techniques have contributed to powerful recent advances in our understanding of neurodevelopmental processes in the first three years of life. If adequate nurturance is compromised, a range of difficulties may emerge. This has important implications for how we understand and treat our psychotherapy clients. The paper provides an overview of functional brain imaging and advances in developmental neuropsychology, and looks at applications of some of these findings (including neurofeedback) in the Jungian psychotherapy domain. © 2017, The Society of Analytical Psychology.

Developmental dyscalculia: a dysconnection syndrome?

Science.gov (United States)

Kucian, Karin; Ashkenazi, Simone Schwizer; Hänggi, Jürgen; Rotzer, Stephanie; Jäncke, Lutz; Martin, Ernst; von Aster, Michael

2014-09-01

Numerical understanding is important for everyday life. For children with developmental dyscalculia (DD), numbers and magnitudes present profound problems which are thought to be based upon neuronal impairments of key regions for numerical understanding. The aim of the present study was to investigate possible differences in white matter fibre integrity between children with DD and controls using diffusion tensor imaging. White matter integrity and behavioural measures were evaluated in 15 children with developmental dyscalculia aged around 10 years and 15 matched controls. The main finding, obtained by a whole brain group comparison, revealed reduced fractional anisotropy in the superior longitudinal fasciculus in children with developmental dyscalculia. In addition, a region of interest analysis exhibited prominent deficits in fibres of the superior longitudinal fasciculus adjacent to the intraparietal sulcus, which is thought to be the core region for number processing. To conclude, our results outline deficient fibre projection between parietal, temporal and frontal regions in children with developmental dyscalculia, and therefore raise the question of whether dyscalculia can be seen as a dysconnection syndrome. Since the superior longitudinal fasciculus is involved in the integration and control of distributed brain processes, the present results highlight the importance of considering broader domain-general mechanisms in the diagnosis and therapy of dyscalculia.

Intelligence Tests with Higher G-Loadings Show Higher Correlations with Body Symmetry: Evidence for a General Fitness Factor Mediated by Developmental Stability

Science.gov (United States)

Prokosch, M.D.; Yeo, R.A.; Miller, G.F.

2005-01-01

Just as body symmetry reveals developmental stability at the morphological level, general intelligence may reveal developmental stability at the level of brain development and cognitive functioning. These two forms of developmental stability may overlap by tapping into a ''general fitness factor.'' If so, then intellectual tests with higher…

How does processing affect storage in working memory tasks? Evidence for both domain-general and domain-specific effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Jarrold, Christopher; Tam, Helen; Baddeley, Alan D; Harvey, Caroline E

2011-05-01

Two studies that examine whether the forgetting caused by the processing demands of working memory tasks is domain-general or domain-specific are presented. In each, separate groups of adult participants were asked to carry out either verbal or nonverbal operations on exactly the same processing materials while maintaining verbal storage items. The imposition of verbal processing tended to produce greater forgetting even though verbal processing operations took no longer to complete than did nonverbal processing operations. However, nonverbal processing did cause forgetting relative to baseline control conditions, and evidence from the timing of individuals' processing responses suggests that individuals in both processing groups slowed their responses in order to "refresh" the memoranda. Taken together the data suggest that processing has a domain-general effect on working memory performance by impeding refreshment of memoranda but can also cause effects that appear domain-specific and that result from either blocking of rehearsal or interference.

Development of Fourier domain optical coherence tomography for applications in developmental biology

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Anjul Maheshwari

Developmental biology is a field in which explorations are made to answer how an organism transforms from a single cell to a complex system made up of trillions of highly organized and highly specified cells. This field, however, is not just for discovery, it is crucial for unlocking factors that lead to diseases, defects, or malformations. The one key ingredient that contributes to the success of studies in developmental biology is the technology that is available for use. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is one such technology. OCT fills a niche between the high resolution of confocal microscopy and deep imaging penetration of ultrasound. Developmental studies of the chicken embryo heart are of great interest. Studies in mature hearts, zebrafish animal models, and to a more limited degree chicken embryos, indicate a relationship between blood flow and development. It is believed that at the earliest stages, when the heart is still a tube, the purpose of blood flow is not for convective transport of oxygen, nutrients and waster, bur rather to induce shear-related gene expressions to induce further development. Yet, to this date, the simple question of "what makes blood flow?" has not been answered. This is mainly due limited availability to adequate imaging and blood flow measurement tools. Earlier work has demonstrated the potential of OCT for use in studying chicken embryo heart development, however quantitative measurement techniques still needed to be developed. In this dissertation I present technological developments I have made towards building an OCT system to study chick embryo heart development. I will describe: (1) a swept-source OCT with extended imaging depth; (2) a spectral domain OCT system for non-invasive small animal imaging; (3) Doppler flow imaging and techniques for quantitative blood flow measurement in living chicken embryos; and (4) application of the OCT system that was developed in the Specific Aims 2-5 to test hypotheses generated by a

Adolescents with Developmental Dyscalculia Do Not Have a Generalized Magnitude Deficit - Processing of Discrete and Continuous Magnitudes.

Science.gov (United States)

McCaskey, Ursina; von Aster, Michael; O'Gorman Tuura, Ruth; Kucian, Karin

2017-01-01

The link between number and space has been discussed in the literature for some time, resulting in the theory that number, space and time might be part of a generalized magnitude system. To date, several behavioral and neuroimaging findings support the notion of a generalized magnitude system, although contradictory results showing a partial overlap or separate magnitude systems are also found. The possible existence of a generalized magnitude processing area leads to the question how individuals with developmental dyscalculia (DD), known for deficits in numerical-arithmetical abilities, process magnitudes. By means of neuropsychological tests and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we aimed to examine the relationship between number and space in typical and atypical development. Participants were 16 adolescents with DD (14.1 years) and 14 typically developing (TD) peers (13.8 years). In the fMRI paradigm participants had to perform discrete (arrays of dots) and continuous magnitude (angles) comparisons as well as a mental rotation task. In the neuropsychological tests, adolescents with dyscalculia performed significantly worse in numerical and complex visuo-spatial tasks. However, they showed similar results to TD peers when making discrete and continuous magnitude decisions during the neuropsychological tests and the fMRI paradigm. A conjunction analysis of the fMRI data revealed commonly activated higher order visual (inferior and middle occipital gyrus) and parietal (inferior and superior parietal lobe) magnitude areas for the discrete and continuous magnitude tasks. Moreover, no differences were found when contrasting both magnitude processing conditions, favoring the possibility of a generalized magnitude system. Group comparisons further revealed that dyscalculic subjects showed increased activation in domain general regions, whilst TD peers activate domain specific areas to a greater extent. In conclusion, our results point to the existence of a

Identifying Domain-General and Domain-Specific Predictors of Low Mathematics Performance: A Classification and Regression Tree Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David J. Purpura

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Many children struggle to successfully acquire early mathematics skills. Theoretical and empirical evidence has pointed to deficits in domain-specific skills (e.g., non-symbolic mathematics skills or domain-general skills (e.g., executive functioning and language as underlying low mathematical performance. In the current study, we assessed a sample of 113 three- to five-year old preschool children on a battery of domain-specific and domain-general factors in the fall and spring of their preschool year to identify Time 1 (fall factors associated with low performance in mathematics knowledge at Time 2 (spring. We used the exploratory approach of classification and regression tree analyses, a strategy that uses step-wise partitioning to create subgroups from a larger sample using multiple predictors, to identify the factors that were the strongest classifiers of low performance for younger and older preschool children. Results indicated that the most consistent classifier of low mathematics performance at Time 2 was children’s Time 1 mathematical language skills. Further, other distinct classifiers of low performance emerged for younger and older children. These findings suggest that risk classification for low mathematics performance may differ depending on children’s age.

How Does Processing Affect Storage in Working Memory Tasks? Evidence for Both Domain-General and Domain-Specific Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Jarrold, Christopher; Tam, Helen; Baddeley, Alan D.; Harvey, Caroline E.

2011-01-01

Two studies that examine whether the forgetting caused by the processing demands of working memory tasks is domain-general or domain-specific are presented. In each, separate groups of adult participants were asked to carry out either verbal or nonverbal operations on exactly the same processing materials while maintaining verbal storage items.…

Global general relativity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Penrose, R.

1979-01-01

Much theoretical work in General Relativity has been concerned with finding explicit solutions of Einstein field equations. Exact solutions must involve simplifying procedures which in the case of strong gravitational fields may not be valid. Computers can help but complementary to these are the global qualitative mathematics that have been introduced into relativity over the past years. These have shown that Einstein's equations together with suitable inequalities on the energy-momentum tensor can lead inevitably to space-time singularities arising, provided that some qualitative geometric criterion is satisfied. It seems that in suitable situations of gravitational collapse this criterion will be satisfied. Similarly in a cosmological setting the criterion can be applied in the reverse direction in time. There is, however, the unsolved problem in general relativity of cosmic censorship and this is discussed as a consequence of Einstein's equations. (UK)

A general equilibrium view of global rebound effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei Taoyuan

2010-01-01

How do energy efficiency gains affect energy consumption? The effects are generally called 'rebound effects' in the literature. Previous studies have extensively focused on only part of the global economy to study rebound effects, e.g. energy consumption by households, one industry, or one country. However, since the global economy is highly connected among countries, these studies may lead to misleading conclusions if the rebound effects in the rest of the economy are significant. Recently Saunders (2008) analyzes the demand side by taking the global economy as a whole. Wei (2007) also provides a general analysis by using Cobb-Douglas production functions for the global economy. The present article expands Wei (2007) general analysis to explore the rebound effects from an economist's viewpoint by taking the global economy as a whole and applying general forms of production functions. The analysis provides new insights related to rebound effects: we highlight the role of energy supply as a determinant of rebound. We show that the substitution between energy resources and other productive resources is more relevant to long term rebound. We predict that long term rebound may be lower than short term rebound. And we also discover that super-conservation can happen in both the short term and the long term.

Incursions from the epicentre: Southern theory, social science, and the global HIV research domain.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodes, Rebecca; Morrell, Robert

2018-03-01

Research about HIV constitutes a global domain of academic knowledge. The patterns that structure this domain reflect inequalities in the production and dissemination of knowledge, as well as broader inequalities in geopolitics. Conventional metrics for assessing the value and impact of academic research reveal that "Northern" research remains dominant, while "Southern" research remains peripheral. Southern theory provides a framework for greater critical engagement with knowledge produced by researchers within the global South. With a focus on HIV social science, we show that investigators working in and from Africa have produced and disseminated knowledge fundamental to the global domain of HIV research, and argue that their epistemological contribution may be understood within the framework of Southern theory. Through repurposing a bibliometrical measure of citation count, we constitute a new archive of highly cited social science research. With a focus on South Africa, we situate this archive within changing historical contexts, connecting research findings to developments in medicine, health sciences and politics. We focus on two key themes in the evolution of HIV knowledge: (1) the significance of context and locality - the "setting" of HIV research; and (2) sex, race and risk - changing ideas about the social determinants of HIV transmission.

Age correction in cognitive, linguistic, and motor domains for infants born preterm: an analysis of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition developmental patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Morsan, Valentina; Fantoni, Carlo; Tallandini, Maria Anna

2018-03-15

To verify whether it is appropriate to use age correction for infants born preterm in all the developmental domains (cognitive, linguistic, and motor) considered by the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III). Seventy-three infants born preterm (26-35wks) without major neurological sequelae and 67 infants born at term were assessed at 12 months (corrected age for infants born preterm). The performance of the infants born preterm was assessed with two different evaluations: scores based on uncorrected age and scores based on corrected age. The developmental trends of infants born at term and infants born preterm differ across domains. Statistical analysis shows that age correction produces an overrated estimate of motor performance (12.5 points [95% confidence interval 9.05-16.01]) but not of cognitive performance. Given the broad use of the Bayley-III by psychologists and paediatricians, these results are important in the early diagnosis of developmental difficulties for children born preterm. Correction for gestational age should be applied for the cognitive domain only; whereas for the motor domain, chronological age should be used. No clear data emerged for language. Age correction with Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III) for infants born preterm should be applied differently in cognitive, language, and motor domains. Using corrected age with Bayley-III, the motor skills are overrated. Correction for preterm births adequately measures cognitive skills. No clear indication emerged about language skills. © 2018 Mac Keith Press.

Generalized multiscale finite element methods for problems in perforated heterogeneous domains

KAUST Repository

Chung, Eric T.

2015-06-08

Complex processes in perforated domains occur in many real-world applications. These problems are typically characterized by physical processes in domains with multiple scales. Moreover, these problems are intrinsically multiscale and their discretizations can yield very large linear or nonlinear systems. In this paper, we investigate multiscale approaches that attempt to solve such problems on a coarse grid by constructing multiscale basis functions in each coarse grid, where the coarse grid can contain many perforations. In particular, we are interested in cases when there is no scale separation and the perforations can have different sizes. In this regard, we mention some earlier pioneering works, where the authors develop multiscale finite element methods. In our paper, we follow Generalized Multiscale Finite Element Method (GMsFEM) and develop a multiscale procedure where we identify multiscale basis functions in each coarse block using snapshot space and local spectral problems. We show that with a few basis functions in each coarse block, one can approximate the solution, where each coarse block can contain many small inclusions. We apply our general concept to (1) Laplace equation in perforated domains; (2) elasticity equation in perforated domains; and (3) Stokes equations in perforated domains. Numerical results are presented for these problems using two types of heterogeneous perforated domains. The analysis of the proposed methods will be presented elsewhere. © 2015 Taylor & Francis

Search for domain wall dark matter with atomic clocks on board global positioning system satellites.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Benjamin M; Blewitt, Geoffrey; Dailey, Conner; Murphy, Mac; Pospelov, Maxim; Rollings, Alex; Sherman, Jeff; Williams, Wyatt; Derevianko, Andrei

2017-10-30

Cosmological observations indicate that dark matter makes up 85% of all matter in the universe yet its microscopic composition remains a mystery. Dark matter could arise from ultralight quantum fields that form macroscopic objects. Here we use the global positioning system as a ~ 50,000 km aperture dark matter detector to search for such objects in the form of domain walls. Global positioning system navigation relies on precision timing signals furnished by atomic clocks. As the Earth moves through the galactic dark matter halo, interactions with domain walls could cause a sequence of atomic clock perturbations that propagate through the satellite constellation at galactic velocities ~ 300 km s -1 . Mining 16 years of archival data, we find no evidence for domain walls at our current sensitivity level. This improves the limits on certain quadratic scalar couplings of domain wall dark matter to standard model particles by several orders of magnitude.

Generalized monotonicity from global minimization in fourth-order ODEs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.A. Peletier (Mark)

2000-01-01

textabstractWe consider solutions of the stationary Extended Fisher-Kolmogorov equation with general potential that are global minimizers of an associated variational problem. We present results that relate the global minimization property to a generalized concept of monotonicity of the solutions.

Memory and Comprehension for Health Information among Older Adults: Distinguishing the Effects of Domain-General and Domain-Specific Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Jessie; Payne, Brennan; Gao, Xuefei; Conner-Garcia, Thembi; Graumlich, James F.; Murray, Michael D.; Morrow, Daniel G.; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A.L.

2014-01-01

While there is evidence that knowledge influences understanding of health information, less is known about the processing mechanisms underlying this effect and its impact on memory. We used the moving window paradigm to examine how older adults varying in domain-general crystallized ability (verbal ability) and health knowledge allocate attention to understand health and domain-general texts. Participants (n=107, aged 60 to 88 yrs) read and recalled single sentences about hypertension and about non-health topics. Mixed-effects modeling of word-by-word reading times suggested that domain-general crystallized ability increased conceptual integration regardless of text domain, while health knowledge selectively increased resource allocation to conceptual integration at clause boundaries in health texts. These patterns of attentional allocation were related to subsequent recall performance. Although older adults with lower levels of crystallized ability were less likely to engage in integrative processing, when they did, this strategy had a compensatory effect in improving recall. These findings suggest that semantic integration during reading is an important comprehension process that supports the construction of the memory representation and is engendered by knowledge. Implications of the findings for theories of text processing and memory as well as for designing patient education materials are discussed. PMID:24787361

Memory and comprehension for health information among older adults: distinguishing the effects of domain-general and domain-specific knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Jessie; Payne, Brennan; Gao, Xuefei; Conner-Garcia, Thembi; Graumlich, James F; Murray, Michael D; Morrow, Daniel G; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A L

2015-01-01

While there is evidence that knowledge influences understanding of health information, less is known about the processing mechanisms underlying this effect and its impact on memory. We used the moving window paradigm to examine how older adults varying in domain-general crystallised ability (verbal ability) and health knowledge allocate attention to understand health and domain-general texts. Participants (n = 107, age: 60-88 years) read and recalled single sentences about hypertension and about non-health topics. Mixed-effects modelling of word-by-word reading times suggested that domain-general crystallised ability increased conceptual integration regardless of text domain, while health knowledge selectively increased resource allocation to conceptual integration at clause boundaries in health texts. These patterns of attentional allocation were related to subsequent recall performance. Although older adults with lower levels of crystallised ability were less likely to engage in integrative processing, when they did, this strategy had a compensatory effect in improving recall. These findings suggest that semantic integration during reading is an important comprehension process that supports the construction of the memory representation and is engendered by knowledge. Implications of the findings for theories of text processing and memory as well as for designing patient education materials are discussed.

Diagnostic outcome following routine genetics clinic referral for the assessment of global developmental delay.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Shahdadpuri, R

2012-02-01

The aim of this study was to ascertain the diagnostic yield following a routine genetics clinic referral for the assessment of global developmental delay. Detailed retrospective review of 119 complete consecutive case notes of patients referred to one single clinical geneticist over a 14 month time period was undertaken (n = 119; 54 males, 65 females). The age at initial review ranged from 2 months to 37 years 3 months (mean 8 y 3 mo [SD 7 y 10 mo]). We made a diagnosis in 36\\/119 (30%); 21\\/36 were new diagnoses and 15\\/36 were confirmations of diagnoses. We removed a wrong diagnostic label in 8\\/119 (7%). In 3\\/8 we were able to achieve a diagnosis but in 5\\/8 no alternative diagnosis was reached. We had a better diagnostic rate where the patients were dysmorphic (odds ratio [OR] 1.825; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.065 to 3.128, p = 0.044). In the majority, the diagnosis was made by clinical examination only. Molecular diagnosis was reached in seven cases. Five cases were confirmed by cytogenetic analysis. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a diagnosis in three cases. This study confirms the importance of a clinical genetics assessment in the investigation of global developmental delay.

Adolescents with Developmental Dyscalculia Do Not Have a Generalized Magnitude Deficit – Processing of Discrete and Continuous Magnitudes

Science.gov (United States)

McCaskey, Ursina; von Aster, Michael; O’Gorman Tuura, Ruth; Kucian, Karin

2017-01-01

The link between number and space has been discussed in the literature for some time, resulting in the theory that number, space and time might be part of a generalized magnitude system. To date, several behavioral and neuroimaging findings support the notion of a generalized magnitude system, although contradictory results showing a partial overlap or separate magnitude systems are also found. The possible existence of a generalized magnitude processing area leads to the question how individuals with developmental dyscalculia (DD), known for deficits in numerical-arithmetical abilities, process magnitudes. By means of neuropsychological tests and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we aimed to examine the relationship between number and space in typical and atypical development. Participants were 16 adolescents with DD (14.1 years) and 14 typically developing (TD) peers (13.8 years). In the fMRI paradigm participants had to perform discrete (arrays of dots) and continuous magnitude (angles) comparisons as well as a mental rotation task. In the neuropsychological tests, adolescents with dyscalculia performed significantly worse in numerical and complex visuo-spatial tasks. However, they showed similar results to TD peers when making discrete and continuous magnitude decisions during the neuropsychological tests and the fMRI paradigm. A conjunction analysis of the fMRI data revealed commonly activated higher order visual (inferior and middle occipital gyrus) and parietal (inferior and superior parietal lobe) magnitude areas for the discrete and continuous magnitude tasks. Moreover, no differences were found when contrasting both magnitude processing conditions, favoring the possibility of a generalized magnitude system. Group comparisons further revealed that dyscalculic subjects showed increased activation in domain general regions, whilst TD peers activate domain specific areas to a greater extent. In conclusion, our results point to the existence of a

Domain-Specific and Domain-General Training to Improve Kindergarten Children’s Mathematics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geetha B. Ramani

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Ensuring that kindergarten children have a solid foundation in early numerical knowledge is of critical importance for later mathematical achievement. In this study, we targeted improving the numerical knowledge of kindergarteners (n = 81 from primarily low-income backgrounds using two approaches: one targeting their conceptual knowledge, specifically, their understanding of numerical magnitudes; and the other targeting their underlying cognitive system, specifically, their working memory. Both interventions involved playing game-like activities on tablet computers over the course of several sessions. As predicted, both interventions improved children’s numerical magnitude knowledge as compared to a no-contact control group, suggesting that both domain-specific and domain-general interventions facilitate mathematical learning. Individual differences in effort during the working memory game, but not the number knowledge training game predicted children’s improvements in number line estimation. The results demonstrate the potential of using a rapidly growing technology in early childhood classrooms to promote young children’s numerical knowledge.

Knowing, Applying, and Reasoning about Arithmetic: Roles of Domain-General and Numerical Skills in Multiple Domains of Arithmetic Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiao; Räsänen, Pekka; Koponen, Tuire; Aunola, Kaisa; Lerkkanen, Marja-Kristiina; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2017-01-01

The longitudinal relations of domain-general and numerical skills at ages 6-7 years to 3 cognitive domains of arithmetic learning, namely knowing (written computation), applying (arithmetic word problems), and reasoning (arithmetic reasoning) at age 11, were examined for a representative sample of 378 Finnish children. The results showed that…

Participation by women in developmental, social, cognitive, and general psychology: A context for interpreting trends in behavior analysis

OpenAIRE

McSweeney, Frances K.; Parks, Craig D.

2002-01-01

We examined participation by women in journals devoted to social, developmental, cognitive, and general psychology. Authorship and first authorship by women increased from 1978 to 1997 for most journals. Participation by women on the editorial staff did not keep pace with their increased authorship for social and developmental psychology. Based on these trends, women's participation decreased with increases in the selectivity of the position for social and developmental psychology (a glass ce...

Developmental Profiles of Preschool Children With Spastic Diplegic and Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ya-Chen Lee

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Cerebral palsy (CP is a disorder of movement and posture control with multiple impairments. The clinical manifestations of CP vary among children. The aim of this study was to compare the developmental profiles of preschool children with either of two types of CP: spastic diplegic (SD CP and spastic quadriplegic (SQ CP. Relationships between the children's various developmental functions were also investigated. We recruited 137 children with spastic CP, aged 1-5 years (mean age = 3.7 ± 2.1 years, and we classified them into two groups: SD (n = 59 and SQ (n = 78. The comparison group comprised 18 children with typical development. Developmental functions were assessed in all the children, using the Chinese Child Development Inventory with the updated norms. This scale addressed eight functional domains: gross motor ability, fine motor ability, expressive language ability, concept comprehension ability, situation comprehension ability, self-help ability, personal-social skills, and general development. A development quotient (DQ was determined for each domain as a percentage of the developmental age divided by the chronological age. The developmental profiles of the CP subtypes were found to differ. Children with SQ were found to have lower DQs than those with SD (p < 0.01. There was also a difference in the distribution of DQs between the SD and SQ groups, although the lowest DQ in both groups was for the gross motor domain. An uneven delay in the development of gross motor function was found in both groups of children with CP. Motor functions, including gross motor and fine motor functions, were significantly related to self-help ability. Complex and significant correlations among developmental functions were also identified in children with CP. The findings in the present study may allow clinicians to anticipate the developmental profile of children with CP on the basis of whether they have the SD or SQ subtype. This, in turn, is likely to

Informing General CSCW Product Development through Cooperative Design in Specific Work Domains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grønbæk, Kaj; Mogensen, Preben Holst

1997-01-01

sharing of materials in the engineering domain. In our project, a single engineering company (Great Belt Link Ltd.) was chosen as the user organization. The paper summarizes the process from observational studies, over a future workshop and cooperative prototyping activities, to a pilot installation. We...... describe how these activities informed the general hypermedia framework and application design. Use scenarios and prototypes with example data from the users‘ daily work were used as sources both to trigger design ideas and new insights regarding work practice. Common participants in specific activities...... and general development activities supported transfer of work domain knowledge into general features of the product being developed. Mutual challenging characterized the interaction between specific cooperative analysis and design activities and general development activities. Prototypes, scenarios, materials...

Analysis of generalized Schwarz alternating procedure for domain decomposition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Engquist, B.; Zhao, Hongkai [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

1996-12-31

The Schwartz alternating method(SAM) is the theoretical basis for domain decomposition which itself is a powerful tool both for parallel computation and for computing in complicated domains. The convergence rate of the classical SAM is very sensitive to the overlapping size between each subdomain, which is not desirable for most applications. We propose a generalized SAM procedure which is an extension of the modified SAM proposed by P.-L. Lions. Instead of using only Dirichlet data at the artificial boundary between subdomains, we take a convex combination of u and {partial_derivative}u/{partial_derivative}n, i.e. {partial_derivative}u/{partial_derivative}n + {Lambda}u, where {Lambda} is some {open_quotes}positive{close_quotes} operator. Convergence of the modified SAM without overlapping in a quite general setting has been proven by P.-L.Lions using delicate energy estimates. The important questions remain for the generalized SAM. (1) What is the most essential mechanism for convergence without overlapping? (2) Given the partial differential equation, what is the best choice for the positive operator {Lambda}? (3) In the overlapping case, is the generalized SAM superior to the classical SAM? (4) What is the convergence rate and what does it depend on? (5) Numerically can we obtain an easy to implement operator {Lambda} such that the convergence is independent of the mesh size. To analyze the convergence of the generalized SAM we focus, for simplicity, on the Poisson equation for two typical geometry in two subdomain case.

Developmental Dynamics of General and School-Subject-Specific Components of Academic Self-Concept, Academic Interest, and Academic Anxiety.

Science.gov (United States)

Gogol, Katarzyna; Brunner, Martin; Preckel, Franzis; Goetz, Thomas; Martin, Romain

2016-01-01

The present study investigated the developmental dynamics of general and subject-specific (i.e., mathematics, French, and German) components of students' academic self-concept, anxiety, and interest. To this end, the authors integrated three lines of research: (a) hierarchical and multidimensional approaches to the conceptualization of each construct, (b) longitudinal analyses of bottom-up and top-down developmental processes across hierarchical levels, and (c) developmental processes across subjects. The data stemmed from two longitudinal large-scale samples (N = 3498 and N = 3863) of students attending Grades 7 and 9 in Luxembourgish schools. Nested-factor models were applied to represent each construct at each grade level. The analyses demonstrated that several characteristics were shared across constructs. All constructs were multidimensional in nature with respect to the different subjects, showed a hierarchical organization with a general component at the apex of the hierarchy, and had a strong separation between the subject-specific components at both grade levels. Further, all constructs showed moderate differential stabilities at both the general (0.42 < r < 0.55) and subject-specific levels (0.45 < r < 0.73). Further, little evidence was found for top-down or bottom-up developmental processes. Rather, general and subject-specific components in Grade 9 proved to be primarily a function of the corresponding components in Grade 7. Finally, change in several subject-specific components could be explained by negative effects across subjects.

A Time Domain Waveform for Testing General Relativity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huwyler, Cédric; Jetzer, Philippe; Porter, Edward K

2015-01-01

Gravitational-wave parameter estimation is only as good as the theory the waveform generation models are based upon. It is therefore crucial to test General Relativity (GR) once data becomes available. Many previous works, such as studies connected with the ppE framework by Yunes and Pretorius, rely on the stationary phase approximation (SPA) to model deviations from GR in the frequency domain. As Fast Fourier Transform algorithms have become considerably faster and in order to circumvent possible problems with the SPA, we test GR with corrected time domain waveforms instead of SPA waveforms. Since a considerable amount of work has been done already in the field using SPA waveforms, we establish a connection between leading-order-corrected waveforms in time and frequency domain, concentrating on phase-only corrected terms. In a Markov Chain Monte Carlo study, whose results are preliminary and will only be available later, we will assess the ability of the eLISA detector to measure deviations from GR for signals coming from supermassive black hole inspirals using these corrected waveforms. (paper)

Increases in Global and Domain Specific Self-Esteem Following a 10 Day Developmental Voyage

Science.gov (United States)

Grocott, Andrew C.; Hunter, John A.

2009-01-01

Although positive effects are often reported, research assessing the impact of Adventure Education and Outward Bound programmes on self-esteem is fraught with methodological weaknesses pertaining to an emphasis on scales assessing global self-esteem, a lack of follow-up measures to assess the potential long-term benefits of such programmes and…

The dynamics of general developmental mechanisms : From Piaget and Vygotsky to dynamic systems models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Geert, P

Dynamic systems theory conceives of development as a self-organizational process. Both complexity and order emerge as a product of elementary principles of interaction between components involved in the developmental process. This article presents a dynamic systems model based on a general dual

Developmental patterns of adolescent spiritual health in six countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valerie Michaelson

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The spiritual health of adolescents is a topic of emerging contemporary importance. Limited numbers of international studies provide evidence about developmental patterns of this aspect of health during the adolescent years. Using multidimensional indicators of spiritual health that have been adapted for use within younger adolescent populations, we therefore: (1 describe aspects of the perceptions of the importance of spiritual health of adolescents by developmental stage and within genders; (2 conduct similar analyses across measures related to specific domains of adolescent spiritual health; (3 relate perceptions of spiritual health to self-perceived personal health status. Cross-sectional surveys were administered to adolescent populations in school settings during 2013–2014. Participants (n=45,967 included eligible and consenting students aged 11–15 years in sampled schools from six European and North American countries. Our primary measures of spiritual health consisted of eight questions in four domains (perceived importance of connections to: self, others, nature, and the transcendent. Socio-demographic factors included age, gender, and country of origin. Self-perceived personal health status was assessed using a simple composite measure. Self-rated importance of spiritual health, both overall and within most questions and domains, declined as young people aged. This declining pattern persisted for both genders and in all countries, and was most notable for the domains of “connections with nature” and “connections with the transcendent”. Girls consistently rated their perceptions of the importance of spiritual health higher than boys. Spiritual health and its domains related strongly and consistently with self-perceived personal health status. While limited by the 8-item measure of perceived spiritual health employed, study findings confirm developmental theories proposed from qualitative observation, provide foundational

Developmental Dynamics of General and School-Subject-Specific Components of Academic Self-Concept, Academic Interest, and Academic Anxiety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna eGogol

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The present study investigated the developmental dynamics of general and subject-specific (i.e., mathematics, French, and German components of students’ academic self-concept, anxiety, and interest. To this end, the authors integrated three lines of research: (a hierarchical and multidimensional approaches to the conceptualization of each construct, (b longitudinal analyses of bottom-up and top-down developmental processes across hierarchical levels, and (c ipsative developmental processes across subjects. The data stemmed from two longitudinal large-scale samples (N = 3,498 and N = 3,863 of students attending Grades 7 and 9 in Luxembourgish schools. Nested-factor models were applied to represent each construct at each grade level. The analyses demonstrated that several characteristics were shared across constructs. All constructs were multidimensional in nature with respect to the different subjects, showed a hierarchical organization with a general component at the apex of the hierarchy, and had a strong separation between the subject-specific components at both grade levels. Further, all constructs showed moderate differential stabilities at both the general (.42 < r < .55 and subject-specific levels (.45 < r < .73. Further, little evidence was found for top-down or bottom-up developmental processes. Rather, general and subject-specific components in Grade 9 proved to be primarily a function of the corresponding components in Grade 7. Finally, change in several subject-specific components could be explained by negative, ipsative effects across subjects.

Developmental Dynamics of General and School-Subject-Specific Components of Academic Self-Concept, Academic Interest, and Academic Anxiety

Science.gov (United States)

Gogol, Katarzyna; Brunner, Martin; Preckel, Franzis; Goetz, Thomas; Martin, Romain

2016-01-01

The present study investigated the developmental dynamics of general and subject-specific (i.e., mathematics, French, and German) components of students' academic self-concept, anxiety, and interest. To this end, the authors integrated three lines of research: (a) hierarchical and multidimensional approaches to the conceptualization of each construct, (b) longitudinal analyses of bottom-up and top-down developmental processes across hierarchical levels, and (c) developmental processes across subjects. The data stemmed from two longitudinal large-scale samples (N = 3498 and N = 3863) of students attending Grades 7 and 9 in Luxembourgish schools. Nested-factor models were applied to represent each construct at each grade level. The analyses demonstrated that several characteristics were shared across constructs. All constructs were multidimensional in nature with respect to the different subjects, showed a hierarchical organization with a general component at the apex of the hierarchy, and had a strong separation between the subject-specific components at both grade levels. Further, all constructs showed moderate differential stabilities at both the general (0.42 < r < 0.55) and subject-specific levels (0.45 < r < 0.73). Further, little evidence was found for top-down or bottom-up developmental processes. Rather, general and subject-specific components in Grade 9 proved to be primarily a function of the corresponding components in Grade 7. Finally, change in several subject-specific components could be explained by negative effects across subjects. PMID:27014162

When Do Adolescents Accept or Defy to Maternal Prohibitions? The Role of Social Domain and Communication Style.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Petegem, Stijn; Vansteenkiste, Maarten; Soenens, Bart; Zimmermann, Grégoire; Antonietti, Jean-Philippe; Baudat, Sophie; Audenaert, Elien

2017-05-01

Drawing upon both Social-Cognitive Domain Theory and Self-Determination Theory, the goal of the present multi-informant study was to test whether the correlates of maternal prohibitions depend on what is prohibited (i.e., the content of the social domain involved), thereby contrasting moral with friendship prohibitions, as well on how the prohibition is communicated, thereby contrasting an autonomy-supportive with a controlling communication style. In a sample of adolescents (N = 196; mean age = 13.9 years; 63 % female) and their mothers (N = 185; mean age = 44 years), we first examined mean-level differences between the two domains in terms of mothers' degree and style of prohibition, as well as on a number of developmental outcomes (i.e., adolescents' legitimacy perceptions, internalization, and oppositional defiance). Both adolescents and mothers reported more maternal involvement in the moral domain (e.g., higher scores for degree of prohibition and controlling communication style). In addition, adolescents reported greater perceived legitimacy and less oppositional defiance in the moral domain (as compared to the friendships domain). Second, we tested whether associations between degree and style of prohibition and the developmental outcomes were moderated by social domain. Whereas associations between degree of prohibition and developmental outcomes either were non-significant or moderated by domain, the associations with communication style were more domain-invariant, with an autonomy-supportive style generally yielding an adaptive pattern of correlates and with a controlling style relating to maladaptive outcomes. The discussion focuses on similarities and differences in the characteristics and correlates of both types of prohibitions.

Subjective time pressure: general or domain specific?

Science.gov (United States)

Kleiner, Sibyl

2014-09-01

Chronic time pressure has been identified as a pervasive societal problem, exacerbated by high demands of the labor market and the home. Yet time pressure has not been disaggregated and examined separately across home and work contexts, leaving many unanswered questions regarding the sources and potentially stressful consequences of time pressure. Using data collected in the United States General Social Survey waves 2002 and 2004, this study disaggregates time pressure into the domains of home and work, and asks whether considering time pressures within distinct work and home contexts reveals distinct predictors or associations with stress. Findings show that both predictors and stress associations differ across work and home pressures, revealing both methodological and theoretical implications for the study of time pressure and work and family life more generally. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Life Span Developmental Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Eryilmaz

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The Life Span Developmental Approach examines development of individuals which occurs from birth to death. Life span developmental approach is a multi-disciplinary approach related with disciplines like psychology, psychiatry, sociology, anthropology and geriatrics that indicates the fact that development is not completed in adulthood, it continues during the life course. Development is a complex process that consists of dying and death. This approach carefully investigates the development of individuals with respect to developmental stages. This developmental approach suggests that scientific disciplines should not explain developmental facts only with age changes. Along with aging, cognitive, biological, and socioemotional development throughout life should also be considered to provide a reasonable and acceptable context, guideposts, and reasonable expectations for the person. There are three important subjects whom life span developmental approach deals with. These are nature vs nurture, continuity vs discontinuity, and change vs stability. Researchers using life span developmental approach gather and produce knowledge on these three most important domains of individual development with their unique scientific methodology.

Multiple graph regularized protein domain ranking.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jim Jing-Yan; Bensmail, Halima; Gao, Xin

2012-11-19

Protein domain ranking is a fundamental task in structural biology. Most protein domain ranking methods rely on the pairwise comparison of protein domains while neglecting the global manifold structure of the protein domain database. Recently, graph regularized ranking that exploits the global structure of the graph defined by the pairwise similarities has been proposed. However, the existing graph regularized ranking methods are very sensitive to the choice of the graph model and parameters, and this remains a difficult problem for most of the protein domain ranking methods. To tackle this problem, we have developed the Multiple Graph regularized Ranking algorithm, MultiG-Rank. Instead of using a single graph to regularize the ranking scores, MultiG-Rank approximates the intrinsic manifold of protein domain distribution by combining multiple initial graphs for the regularization. Graph weights are learned with ranking scores jointly and automatically, by alternately minimizing an objective function in an iterative algorithm. Experimental results on a subset of the ASTRAL SCOP protein domain database demonstrate that MultiG-Rank achieves a better ranking performance than single graph regularized ranking methods and pairwise similarity based ranking methods. The problem of graph model and parameter selection in graph regularized protein domain ranking can be solved effectively by combining multiple graphs. This aspect of generalization introduces a new frontier in applying multiple graphs to solving protein domain ranking applications.

Do convergent developmental mechanisms underlie convergent phenotypes?

Science.gov (United States)

Wray, Gregory A.

2002-01-01

Convergence is a pervasive evolutionary process, affecting many aspects of phenotype and even genotype. Relatively little is known about convergence in developmental processes, however, nor about the degree to which convergence in development underlies convergence in anatomy. A switch in the ecology of sea urchins from feeding to nonfeeding larvae illustrates how convergence in development can be associated with convergence in anatomy. Comparisons to more distantly related taxa, however, suggest that this association may be limited to relatively close phylogenetic comparisons. Similarities in gene expression during development provide another window into the association between convergence in developmental processes and convergence in anatomy. Several well-studied transcription factors exhibit likely cases of convergent gene expression in distantly related animal phyla. Convergence in regulatory gene expression domains is probably more common than generally acknowledged, and can arise for several different reasons. Copyright 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel.

The stress-reward-mentalizing model of depression: An integrative developmental cascade approach to child and adolescent depressive disorder based on the research domain criteria (RDoC) approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Luyten, Patrick; Fonagy, Peter

2017-10-09

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) propose a much-needed change in approach to the study of vulnerability factors implicated in mental disorders, shifting away from a categorical, disease-oriented model to a dimensional approach that focuses on underlying systems implicated in psychopathology. In this paper we illustrate this approach with a focus on the emergence of depression in childhood and adolescence. Based on evolutionary biological and developmental psychopathology considerations, we present an integrative developmental cascade model of depression that essentially suggests that depression emerges out of a three-pronged series of interacting impairments in the domains of stress regulation, reward, and mentalizing. We discuss the relation of these impairments to the five domains proposed by RDoC. We also focus on how this model may explain in large part the marked comorbidity of depression with other psychiatric disorders, as well as with functional somatic and somatic disorders. Limitations of this theoretical approach are discussed, as well as implications for the development, evaluation, and dissemination of interventions aimed at preventing or treating depression. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender identity disorder: a literature review from a developmental perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Shechner, Tomer

2010-01-01

The present paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on children and adolescents with gender variant behaviors. The organizational framework underlying this review is one that presents gender behavior in children and adolescents as a continuum rather than as a dichotomy of normal versus abnormal categories. Seven domains are reviewed in relation to gender variant behavior in general, and to Gender Identity Disorder (GID) in particular: theories of normative gender development, phenomenology, prevalence, assessment, developmental trajectories, comorbidity and treatment.

Distinct signaling mechanisms in multiple developmental pathways by the SCRAMBLED receptor of Arabidopsis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwak, Su-Hwan; Woo, Sooah; Lee, Myeong Min; Schiefelbein, John

2014-10-01

SCRAMBLED (SCM), a leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), is required for positional signaling in the root epidermis and for tissue/organ development in the shoot. To further understand SCM action, we generated a series of kinase domain variants and analyzed their ability to complement scm mutant defects. We found that the SCM kinase domain, but not kinase activity, is required for its role in root epidermal patterning, supporting the view that SCM is an atypical receptor kinase. We also describe a previously uncharacterized role for SCM in fruit dehiscence, because mature siliques from scm mutants fail to open properly. Interestingly, the kinase domain of SCM appears to be dispensable for this developmental process. Furthermore, we found that most of the SCM kinase domain mutations dramatically inhibit inflorescence development. Because this process is not affected in scm null mutants, it is likely that SCM acts redundantly to regulate inflorescence size. The importance of distinct kinase residues for these three developmental processes provides an explanation for the maintenance of the conserved kinase domain in the SCM protein, and it may generally explain its conservation in other atypical kinases. Furthermore, these results indicate that individual leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases may participate in multiple pathways using distinct signaling mechanisms to mediate diverse cellular communication events. © 2014 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.

Global gradient estimates for divergence-type elliptic problems involving general nonlinear operators

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Yumi

2018-05-01

We study nonlinear elliptic problems with nonstandard growth and ellipticity related to an N-function. We establish global Calderón-Zygmund estimates of the weak solutions in the framework of Orlicz spaces over bounded non-smooth domains. Moreover, we prove a global regularity result for asymptotically regular problems which are getting close to the regular problems considered, when the gradient variable goes to infinity.

A Developmental Neuroscience Perspective on Affect-Biased Attention

Science.gov (United States)

Morales, Santiago; Fu, Xiaoxue; Pérez-Edgar, Koraly E.

2016-01-01

There is growing interest regarding the impact of affect-biased attention on psychopathology. However, most of the research to date lacks a developmental approach. In the present review, we examine the role affect-biased attention plays in shaping socioemotional trajectories within a developmental neuroscience framework. We propose that affect-biased attention, particularly if stable and entrenched, acts as a developmental tether that helps sustain early socioemotional and behavioral profiles over time, placing some individuals on maladaptive developmental trajectories. Although most of the evidence is found in the anxiety literature, we suggest that these relations may operate across multiple domains of interest, including positive affect, externalizing behaviors, drug use, and eating behaviors. We also review the general mechanisms and neural correlates of affect-biased attention, as well as the current evidence for the co-development of attention and affect. Based on the reviewed literature, we propose a model that may help us better understand the nuances of affect-biased attention across development. The model may serve as a strong foundation for ongoing attempts to identify neurocognitive mechanisms and intervene with individuals at risk. Finally, we discuss open issues for future research that may help bridge existing gaps in the literature. PMID:27606972

Multiple graph regularized protein domain ranking

KAUST Repository

Wang, Jim Jing-Yan

2012-11-19

Background: Protein domain ranking is a fundamental task in structural biology. Most protein domain ranking methods rely on the pairwise comparison of protein domains while neglecting the global manifold structure of the protein domain database. Recently, graph regularized ranking that exploits the global structure of the graph defined by the pairwise similarities has been proposed. However, the existing graph regularized ranking methods are very sensitive to the choice of the graph model and parameters, and this remains a difficult problem for most of the protein domain ranking methods.Results: To tackle this problem, we have developed the Multiple Graph regularized Ranking algorithm, MultiG-Rank. Instead of using a single graph to regularize the ranking scores, MultiG-Rank approximates the intrinsic manifold of protein domain distribution by combining multiple initial graphs for the regularization. Graph weights are learned with ranking scores jointly and automatically, by alternately minimizing an objective function in an iterative algorithm. Experimental results on a subset of the ASTRAL SCOP protein domain database demonstrate that MultiG-Rank achieves a better ranking performance than single graph regularized ranking methods and pairwise similarity based ranking methods.Conclusion: The problem of graph model and parameter selection in graph regularized protein domain ranking can be solved effectively by combining multiple graphs. This aspect of generalization introduces a new frontier in applying multiple graphs to solving protein domain ranking applications. 2012 Wang et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Multiple graph regularized protein domain ranking

KAUST Repository

Wang, Jim Jing-Yan; Bensmail, Halima; Gao, Xin

2012-01-01

Background: Protein domain ranking is a fundamental task in structural biology. Most protein domain ranking methods rely on the pairwise comparison of protein domains while neglecting the global manifold structure of the protein domain database. Recently, graph regularized ranking that exploits the global structure of the graph defined by the pairwise similarities has been proposed. However, the existing graph regularized ranking methods are very sensitive to the choice of the graph model and parameters, and this remains a difficult problem for most of the protein domain ranking methods.Results: To tackle this problem, we have developed the Multiple Graph regularized Ranking algorithm, MultiG-Rank. Instead of using a single graph to regularize the ranking scores, MultiG-Rank approximates the intrinsic manifold of protein domain distribution by combining multiple initial graphs for the regularization. Graph weights are learned with ranking scores jointly and automatically, by alternately minimizing an objective function in an iterative algorithm. Experimental results on a subset of the ASTRAL SCOP protein domain database demonstrate that MultiG-Rank achieves a better ranking performance than single graph regularized ranking methods and pairwise similarity based ranking methods.Conclusion: The problem of graph model and parameter selection in graph regularized protein domain ranking can be solved effectively by combining multiple graphs. This aspect of generalization introduces a new frontier in applying multiple graphs to solving protein domain ranking applications. 2012 Wang et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Multiple graph regularized protein domain ranking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Jim

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Protein domain ranking is a fundamental task in structural biology. Most protein domain ranking methods rely on the pairwise comparison of protein domains while neglecting the global manifold structure of the protein domain database. Recently, graph regularized ranking that exploits the global structure of the graph defined by the pairwise similarities has been proposed. However, the existing graph regularized ranking methods are very sensitive to the choice of the graph model and parameters, and this remains a difficult problem for most of the protein domain ranking methods. Results To tackle this problem, we have developed the Multiple Graph regularized Ranking algorithm, MultiG-Rank. Instead of using a single graph to regularize the ranking scores, MultiG-Rank approximates the intrinsic manifold of protein domain distribution by combining multiple initial graphs for the regularization. Graph weights are learned with ranking scores jointly and automatically, by alternately minimizing an objective function in an iterative algorithm. Experimental results on a subset of the ASTRAL SCOP protein domain database demonstrate that MultiG-Rank achieves a better ranking performance than single graph regularized ranking methods and pairwise similarity based ranking methods. Conclusion The problem of graph model and parameter selection in graph regularized protein domain ranking can be solved effectively by combining multiple graphs. This aspect of generalization introduces a new frontier in applying multiple graphs to solving protein domain ranking applications.

Participation by women in developmental, social, cognitive, and general psychology: A context for interpreting trends in behavior analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

McSweeney, Frances K; Parks, Craig D

2002-01-01

We examined participation by women in journals devoted to social, developmental, cognitive, and general psychology. Authorship and first authorship by women increased from 1978 to 1997 for most journals. Participation by women on the editorial staff did not keep pace with their increased authorship for social and developmental psychology. Based on these trends, women's participation decreased with increases in the selectivity of the position for social and developmental psychology (a glass ceiling). The development of a glass ceiling suggests that the contributions of men and women are not always treated equally (gender inequity). Because a similar glass ceiling was reported for journals in behavior analysis (McSweeney, Donahoe, & Swindell, 2000; McSweeney & Swindell, 1998), the causes of this inequity appear to be relatively widespread. The failure to find a glass ceiling for general and cognitive psychology suggests that the inequity might be reduced by subtle pressure for diversity in editorial positions and by adopting actions that encourage women to pursue research positions.

Selection and Evaluation of Priority Domains in Global Energy Internet Standard Development Based on Technology Foresight

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Yang; Ciwei, Gao; Jing, Zhang; Min, Sun; Jie, Yu

2017-05-01

The selection and evaluation of priority domains in Global Energy Internet standard development will help to break through limits of national investment, thus priority will be given to standardizing technical areas with highest urgency and feasibility. Therefore, in this paper, the process of Delphi survey based on technology foresight is put forward, the evaluation index system of priority domains is established, and the index calculation method is determined. Afterwards, statistical method is used to evaluate the alternative domains. Finally the top four priority domains are determined as follows: Interconnected Network Planning and Simulation Analysis, Interconnected Network Safety Control and Protection, Intelligent Power Transmission and Transformation, and Internet of Things.

The effect of adding a home program to weekly institutional-based therapy for children with undefined developmental delay: a pilot randomized clinical trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Mei-Hua; Lin, Chin-Kai; Lin, Wen-Hsien; Chen, Chao-Huei; Tsai, Sen-Wei; Chang, Yin-Yi

2011-06-01

Early rehabilitation for children with developmental delay without a defined etiology have included home and clinic programs, but no comparisons have been made and efficacy is uncertain. We compared a weekly visit for institutional-based therapy (IT) to IT plus a structured home activity program (HAP). Seventy children who were diagnosed with motor or global developmental delay (ages 6-48 months and mean developmental age 12.5 months) without defined etiology were recruited (including 45 males and 23 females). The outcomes included the comprehensive developmental inventory for infants and toddlers test and the pediatric evaluation of disability inventory. Children who received only IT improved in developmental level by 2.11 months compared with 3.11 months for those who received a combination of IT and HAP (p = 0.000). On all domains of the comprehensive developmental inventory for infants and toddlers test, except for self-help, children who participated in HAP showed greater improvements, including in cognition (p = 0.015), language (p = 0.010), motor (p = 0.000), and social (p = 0.038) domains. Except on the subdomain of self-care with caregiver assistance, the HAP group showed greater improvement in all the pediatric evaluation of disability inventory subdomains (p < 0.05). Early intervention programs are helpful for these children, and the addition of structured home activity programs may augment the effects on developmental progression. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Developmental and evolutionary significance of the mandibular arch and prechordal/premandibular cranium in vertebrates: revising the heterotopy scenario of gnathostome jaw evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Kuratani, Shigeru; Adachi, Noritaka; Wada, Naoyuki; Oisi, Yasuhiro; Sugahara, Fumiaki

2013-01-01

The cephalic neural crest produces streams of migrating cells that populate pharyngeal arches and a more rostral, premandibular domain, to give rise to an extensive ectomesenchyme in the embryonic vertebrate head. The crest cells forming the trigeminal stream are the major source of the craniofacial skeleton; however, there is no clear distinction between the mandibular arch and the premandibular domain in this ectomesenchyme. The question regarding the evolution of the gnathostome jaw is, in part, a question about the differentiation of the mandibular arch, the rostralmost component of the pharynx, and in part a question about the developmental fate of the premandibular domain. We address the developmental definition of the mandibular arch in connection with the developmental origin of the trabeculae, paired cartilaginous elements generally believed to develop in the premandibular domain, and also of enigmatic cartilaginous elements called polar cartilages. Based on comparative embryology, we propose that the mandibular arch ectomesenchyme in gnathostomes can be defined as a Dlx1-positive domain, and that the polar cartilages, which develop from the Dlx1-negative premandibular ectomesenchyme, would represent merely posterior parts of the trabeculae. We also show, in the lamprey embryo, early migration of mandibular arch mesenchyme into the premandibular domain, and propose an updated version of the heterotopy theory on the origin of the jaw. PMID:22500853

Spectrum of general surgical problems in the developmentally disabled adults

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalid, K.; Al-Salamah, Saleh M.

2006-01-01

This study highlights the spectrum of general surgical problems necessitating admission on intellectually disabled adult patients. Problems encountered in the management and the ways to overcome various difficulties are highlighted. Prospective collection of data on 63 consecutive developmentally disabled adult patients admitted to the Department of General Surgery, Riyadh Medical Complex (RMC), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for various indications from January 2000 through December 2004. Demographic details, clinical presentation, diagnostic modalities, associated physical and neurological disabilities, coexisting medical condition, treatment options, morbidity and mortality were analyzed. Various difficulties encountered during the management and mean to overcome these problems are addressed. Sixty-three patients accounted for 71 admissions. Mean age was 26.7 years with a male preponderance (4.25:1). Fifty-four patients were admitted for various emergency conditions. History of pica could be obtained in 33% of the cases. Twenty-seven patients were admitted for acute abdomen. Volvulus of the colon (22.2%) and pseudo-obstruction (18.5%) were the most common causes of acute abdomen. Twenty-one patients were admitted with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Reflux esophagitis was the most common cause of bleeding (62%). Overall morbidity was 41% for emergency admissions and 22% for elective surgery. Hospital mortality was 21.4% for emergency surgery. There was no death in elective cases. Developmentally disabled patients comprise a special class of patients with peculiar management problems. The treating clinician should be aware of various unexpected conditions not found as frequently in the normal patient population. Apparent lack of pain does not exclude an acute emergency. Possible surgical condition should be suspected if there is vomiting, abdominal distension, fever, increased irritability of recent onset. Male gender and history of pica are added risk factors

The Dynamic Interdependence of Developmental Domains across Emerging Adulthood

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Sneed, Joel R.; Hamagami, Fumiaki; McArdle, John J.; Cohen, Patricia; Chen, Henian

2007-01-01

Emerging adulthood is a period in which profound role changes take place across a number of life domains including finance, romance, and residence. On the basis of dynamic systems theory, change in one domain should be related to change in another domain, because the concept of development according to this approach is a relational one. To…

General movements : A window for early identification of children at high risk for developmental disorders

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hadders-Algra, M

Detection of children with a developmental disorder, such as cerebral palsy, at an early age is notoriously difficult. Recently, a new form of neuromotor assessment of young infants was developed, based on the assessment of the quality of general movements (GMs). GMs are movements of the fetus and

Maternal Obesity: Risks for Developmental Delays in Early Childhood.

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Duffany, Kathleen O'Connor; McVeigh, Katharine H; Kershaw, Trace S; Lipkind, Heather S; Ickovics, Jeannette R

2016-02-01

To assess the risk for neurodevelopmental delays for children of mothers who were obese (≥200 pounds) prior to pregnancy, and to characterize delays associated with maternal obesity among children referred to and found eligible to receive Early Intervention Program services. We conducted a retrospective cohort study (N = 541,816) using a population-based New York City data warehouse with linked birth and Early Intervention data. Risks for children suspected of a delay and 'significantly delayed', with two moderate or one severe delay, were calculated. Among the group of children eligible by delay for Early Intervention, analyses assessed risk for being identified with a moderate-to-severe delay across each of five functional domains as well as risks for multiple delays. Children of mothers who were obese were more likely to be suspected of a delay (adjusted RR 1.19 [CI 1.15-1.22]) and borderline association for 'significantly delayed' (adjusted RR 1.01 [CI 1.00-1.02). Among children eligible by delay, children of mothers who were obese evidenced an increased risk for moderate-to-severe cognitive (adjusted RR 1.04 [CI 1.02-1.07]) and physical (adjusted RR 1.04 [CI 1.01-1.08]) delays and for global developmental delay (adjusted RR 1.05 [CI 1.01-1.08]). Maternal obesity is associated with increased risk of developmental delay in offspring. Among children with moderate or severe delays, maternal obesity is associated with increased risk of cognitive and physical delays as well as with increased risk for global developmental delay. While causation remains uncertain, this adds to the growing body of research reporting an association between maternal obesity and neurodevelopmental delays in offspring.

A general first-order global sensitivity analysis method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Chonggang; Gertner, George Zdzislaw

2008-01-01

Fourier amplitude sensitivity test (FAST) is one of the most popular global sensitivity analysis techniques. The main mechanism of FAST is to assign each parameter with a characteristic frequency through a search function. Then, for a specific parameter, the variance contribution can be singled out of the model output by the characteristic frequency. Although FAST has been widely applied, there are two limitations: (1) the aliasing effect among parameters by using integer characteristic frequencies and (2) the suitability for only models with independent parameters. In this paper, we synthesize the improvement to overcome the aliasing effect limitation [Tarantola S, Gatelli D, Mara TA. Random balance designs for the estimation of first order global sensitivity indices. Reliab Eng Syst Safety 2006; 91(6):717-27] and the improvement to overcome the independence limitation [Xu C, Gertner G. Extending a global sensitivity analysis technique to models with correlated parameters. Comput Stat Data Anal 2007, accepted for publication]. In this way, FAST can be a general first-order global sensitivity analysis method for linear/nonlinear models with as many correlated/uncorrelated parameters as the user specifies. We apply the general FAST to four test cases with correlated parameters. The results show that the sensitivity indices derived by the general FAST are in good agreement with the sensitivity indices derived by the correlation ratio method, which is a non-parametric method for models with correlated parameters

Constructing IGA-suitable planar parameterization from complex CAD boundary by domain partition and global/local optimization

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Xu, Gang; Li, Ming; Mourrain, Bernard; Rabczuk, Timon; Xu, Jinlan; Bordas, Stéphane P. A.

2018-01-01

In this paper, we propose a general framework for constructing IGA-suitable planar B-spline parameterizations from given complex CAD boundaries consisting of a set of B-spline curves. Instead of forming the computational domain by a simple boundary, planar domains with high genus and more complex boundary curves are considered. Firstly, some pre-processing operations including B\\'ezier extraction and subdivision are performed on each boundary curve in order to generate a high-quality planar parameterization; then a robust planar domain partition framework is proposed to construct high-quality patch-meshing results with few singularities from the discrete boundary formed by connecting the end points of the resulting boundary segments. After the topology information generation of quadrilateral decomposition, the optimal placement of interior B\\'ezier curves corresponding to the interior edges of the quadrangulation is constructed by a global optimization method to achieve a patch-partition with high quality. Finally, after the imposition of C1=G1-continuity constraints on the interface of neighboring B\\'ezier patches with respect to each quad in the quadrangulation, the high-quality B\\'ezier patch parameterization is obtained by a C1-constrained local optimization method to achieve uniform and orthogonal iso-parametric structures while keeping the continuity conditions between patches. The efficiency and robustness of the proposed method are demonstrated by several examples which are compared to results obtained by the skeleton-based parameterization approach.

Early Intervention in Children with Developmental Disabilities

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Beena Johnson

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Developmental disabilities consist of conditions that delay or impair the physical, cognitive, and/or psychological development of children. If not intervened at the earliest, these disabilities will cause significant negative impact on multiple domains of functioning such as learning, language, self-care and capacity for independent living. Common developmental disabilities include autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, developmental delay and cerebral palsy. About one fourth of young children in developing countries are at risk for or have developmental delay or disabilities. Inadequate stimulation has significant negative impact on physical, socioemotional and cognitive development of children. Hence early scientific intervention programs are necessary in the management of children at risk for developmental delay.

Children's Comprehension of Object Relative Sentences: It's Extant Language Knowledge That Matters, Not Domain-General Working Memory.

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Rusli, Yazmin Ahmad; Montgomery, James W

2017-10-17

The aim of this study was to determine whether extant language (lexical) knowledge or domain-general working memory is the better predictor of comprehension of object relative sentences for children with typical development. We hypothesized that extant language knowledge, not domain-general working memory, is the better predictor. Fifty-three children (ages 9-11 years) completed a word-level verbal working-memory task, indexing extant language (lexical) knowledge; an analog nonverbal working-memory task, representing domain-general working memory; and a hybrid sentence comprehension task incorporating elements of both agent selection and cross-modal picture-priming paradigms. Images of the agent and patient were displayed at the syntactic gap in the object relative sentences, and the children were asked to select the agent of the sentence. Results of general linear modeling revealed that extant language knowledge accounted for a unique 21.3% of variance in the children's object relative sentence comprehension over and above age (8.3%). Domain-general working memory accounted for a nonsignificant 1.6% of variance. We interpret the results to suggest that extant language knowledge and not domain-general working memory is a critically important contributor to children's object relative sentence comprehension. Results support a connectionist view of the association between working memory and object relative sentence comprehension. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5404573.

General Motors' R&D: Managing Innovation Globally

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Taub, Alan

2006-03-01

The rapid pace of technology development and the globalization of the automobile industry are major forces driving General Motors to devise new ways to innovate faster and more efficiently. In response, GM has developed a global R&D network that has transformed GM's research and development organization from a U.S.-based enterprise to one that is over 30 percent leveraged with collaboration in 16 countries. This talk will focus on the challenges faced as well as the lessons learned and best practices developed in building this network.

A Generalized FDM for solving the Poisson's Equation on 3D Irregular Domains

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J. Izadian

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper a new method for solving the Poisson's equation with Dirichlet conditions on irregular domains is presented. For this purpose a generalized finite differences method is applied for numerical differentiation on irregular meshes. Three examples on cylindrical and spherical domains are considered. The numerical results are compared with analytical solution. These results show the performance and efficiency of the proposed method.

Distinct Signaling Mechanisms in Multiple Developmental Pathways by the SCRAMBLED Receptor of Arabidopsis1[OPEN

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Kwak, Su-Hwan; Woo, Sooah; Lee, Myeong Min; Schiefelbein, John

2014-01-01

SCRAMBLED (SCM), a leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), is required for positional signaling in the root epidermis and for tissue/organ development in the shoot. To further understand SCM action, we generated a series of kinase domain variants and analyzed their ability to complement scm mutant defects. We found that the SCM kinase domain, but not kinase activity, is required for its role in root epidermal patterning, supporting the view that SCM is an atypical receptor kinase. We also describe a previously uncharacterized role for SCM in fruit dehiscence, because mature siliques from scm mutants fail to open properly. Interestingly, the kinase domain of SCM appears to be dispensable for this developmental process. Furthermore, we found that most of the SCM kinase domain mutations dramatically inhibit inflorescence development. Because this process is not affected in scm null mutants, it is likely that SCM acts redundantly to regulate inflorescence size. The importance of distinct kinase residues for these three developmental processes provides an explanation for the maintenance of the conserved kinase domain in the SCM protein, and it may generally explain its conservation in other atypical kinases. Furthermore, these results indicate that individual leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases may participate in multiple pathways using distinct signaling mechanisms to mediate diverse cellular communication events. PMID:25136062

Arabidopsis COLD SHOCK DOMAIN PROTEIN2 is a RNA chaperone that is regulated by cold and developmental signals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasaki, Kentaro; Kim, Myung-Hee; Imai, Ryozo

2007-01-01

Bacterial cold shock proteins (CSPs) are RNA chaperones that unwind RNA secondary structures. Arabidopsis COLD SHOCK DOMAIN PROTEIN2 (AtCSP2) contains a domain that is shared with bacterial CSPs. Here we showed that AtCSP2 binds to RNA and unwinds nucleic acid duplex. Heterologous expression of AtCSP2 complemented cold sensitivity of an Escherichia coli csp quadruple mutant, indicating that AtCSP2 function as a RNA chaperone in E. coli. AtCSP2 mRNA and protein levels increased during cold acclimation, but the protein accumulation was most prominent after 10 days of cold treatment. AtCSP2 promoter::GUS transgenic plants revealed that AtCSP2 is expressed only in root and shoot apical regions during vegetative growth but is expressed in reproductive organs such as pollens, ovules and embryos. These data indicated that AtCSP2 is involved in developmental processes as well as cold adaptation. Localization of AtCSP2::GFP in nucleolus and cytoplasm suggested different nuclear and cytosolic RNA targets

Stability Results, Almost Global Generalized Beltrami Fields and Applications to Vortex Structures in the Euler Equations

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Enciso, Alberto; Poyato, David; Soler, Juan

2018-05-01

Strong Beltrami fields, that is, vector fields in three dimensions whose curl is the product of the field itself by a constant factor, have long played a key role in fluid mechanics and magnetohydrodynamics. In particular, they are the kind of stationary solutions of the Euler equations where one has been able to show the existence of vortex structures (vortex tubes and vortex lines) of arbitrarily complicated topology. On the contrary, there are very few results about the existence of generalized Beltrami fields, that is, divergence-free fields whose curl is the field times a non-constant function. In fact, generalized Beltrami fields (which are also stationary solutions to the Euler equations) have been recently shown to be rare, in the sense that for "most" proportionality factors there are no nontrivial Beltrami fields of high enough regularity (e.g., of class {C^{6,α}}), not even locally. Our objective in this work is to show that, nevertheless, there are "many" Beltrami fields with non-constant factor, even realizing arbitrarily complicated vortex structures. This fact is relevant in the study of turbulent configurations. The core results are an "almost global" stability theorem for strong Beltrami fields, which ensures that a global strong Beltrami field with suitable decay at infinity can be perturbed to get "many" Beltrami fields with non-constant factor of arbitrarily high regularity and defined in the exterior of an arbitrarily small ball, and a "local" stability theorem for generalized Beltrami fields, which is an analogous perturbative result which is valid for any kind of Beltrami field (not just with a constant factor) but only applies to small enough domains. The proof relies on an iterative scheme of Grad-Rubin type. For this purpose, we study the Neumann problem for the inhomogeneous Beltrami equation in exterior domains via a boundary integral equation method and we obtain Hölder estimates, a sharp decay at infinity and some compactness

Health domains for sale: the need for global health Internet governance.

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Mackey, Tim Ken; Liang, Bryan A; Kohler, Jillian C; Attaran, Amir

2014-03-05

A debate on Internet governance for health, or "eHealth governance", is emerging with the impending award of a new dot-health (.health) generic top-level domain name (gTLD) along with a host of other health-related domains. This development is critical as it will shape the future of the health Internet, allowing largely unrestricted use of .health second-level domain names by future registrants, raising concerns about the potential for privacy, use and marketing of health-related information, credibility of online health content, and potential for Internet fraud and abuse. Yet, prospective .health gTLD applicants do not provide adequate safeguards for use of .health or related domains and have few or no ties to the global health community. If approved, one of these for-profit corporate applicants would effectively control the future of the .health address on the Internet with arguably no active oversight from important international public health stakeholders. This would represent a lost opportunity for the public health, medical, and broader health community in establishing a trusted, transparent and reliable source for health on the Internet. Countries, medical associations, civil society, and consumer advocates have objected to these applications on grounds that they do not meet the public interest. We argue that there is an immediate need for action to postpone awarding of the .health gTLD and other health-related gTLDs to address these concerns and ensure the appropriate development of sound eHealth governance rules, principles, and use. This would support the crucial need of ensuring access to quality and evidence-based sources of health information online, as well as establishing a safe and reliable space on the Internet for health. We believe, if properly governed, .health and other domains could represent such a promise in the future.

Global smooth solutions of 3-D null-form wave equations in exterior domains with Neumann boundary conditions

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Jun, Li; Huicheng, Yin

2018-05-01

The paper is devoted to investigating long time behavior of smooth small data solutions to 3-D quasilinear wave equations outside of compact convex obstacles with Neumann boundary conditions. Concretely speaking, when the surface of a 3-D compact convex obstacle is smooth and the quasilinear wave equation fulfills the null condition, we prove that the smooth small data solution exists globally provided that the Neumann boundary condition on the exterior domain is given. One of the main ingredients in the current paper is the establishment of local energy decay estimates of the solution itself. As an application of the main result, the global stability to 3-D static compressible Chaplygin gases in exterior domain is shown under the initial irrotational perturbation with small amplitude.

Markov chains with exponentially small transition probabilities: First exit problem from a general domain. II. The general case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olivieri, E.; Scoppola, E.

1996-01-01

In this paper we consider aperiodic ergodic Markov chains with transition probabilities exponentially small in a large parameter β. We extend to the general, not necessarily reversible case the analysis, started in part I of this work, of the first exit problem from a general domain Q containing many stable equilibria (attracting equilibrium points for the β = ∞ dynamics). In particular we describe the tube of typical trajectories during the first excursion outside Q

N=1 domain wall solutions of massive type II supergravity as generalized geometries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Louis, J.

2006-05-01

We study N=1 domain wall solutions of type IIB supergravity compactified on a Calabi-Yau manifold in the presence of RR and NS electric and magnetic fluxes. We show that the dynamics of the scalar fields along the direction transverse to the domain wall is described by gradient flow equations controlled by a superpotential W. We then provide a geometrical interpretation of the gradient flow equations in terms of the mirror symmetric compactification of type IIA. They correspond to a set of generalized Hitchin flow equations of a manifold with SU(3) x SU(3)structure which is fibered over the direction transverse to the domain wall. (Orig.)

Global existence of solutions for semilinear damped wave equation in 2-D exterior domain

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Ikehata, Ryo

We consider a mixed problem of a damped wave equation utt-Δ u+ ut=| u| p in the two dimensional exterior domain case. Small global in time solutions can be constructed in the case when the power p on the nonlinear term | u| p satisfies p ∗=2Japon. 55 (2002) 33) plays an effective role.

A generalized allosteric mechanism for cis-regulated cyclic nucleotide binding domains.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandr P Kornev

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Cyclic nucleotides (cAMP and cGMP regulate multiple intracellular processes and are thus of a great general interest for molecular and structural biologists. To study the allosteric mechanism of different cyclic nucleotide binding (CNB domains, we compared cAMP-bound and cAMP-free structures (PKA, Epac, and two ionic channels using a new bioinformatics method: local spatial pattern alignment. Our analysis highlights four major conserved structural motifs: 1 the phosphate binding cassette (PBC, which binds the cAMP ribose-phosphate, 2 the "hinge," a flexible helix, which contacts the PBC, 3 the beta(2,3 loop, which provides precise positioning of an invariant arginine from the PBC, and 4 a conserved structural element consisting of an N-terminal helix, an eight residue loop and the A-helix (N3A-motif. The PBC and the hinge were included in the previously reported allosteric model, whereas the definition of the beta(2,3 loop and the N3A-motif as conserved elements is novel. The N3A-motif is found in all cis-regulated CNB domains, and we present a model for an allosteric mechanism in these domains. Catabolite gene activator protein (CAP represents a trans-regulated CNB domain family: it does not contain the N3A-motif, and its long range allosteric interactions are substantially different from the cis-regulated CNB domains.

Spatializing Emotion: No Evidence for a Domain-General Magnitude System.

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Pitt, Benjamin; Casasanto, Daniel

2017-11-22

People implicitly associate different emotions with different locations in left-right space. Which aspects of emotion do they spatialize, and why? Across many studies people spatialize emotional valence, mapping positive emotions onto their dominant side of space and negative emotions onto their non-dominant side, consistent with theories of metaphorical mental representation. Yet other results suggest a conflicting mapping of emotional intensity (a.k.a., emotional magnitude), according to which people associate more intense emotions with the right and less intense emotions with the left - regardless of their valence; this pattern has been interpreted as support for a domain-general system for representing magnitudes. To resolve the apparent contradiction between these mappings, we first tested whether people implicitly map either valence or intensity onto left-right space, depending on which dimension of emotion they attend to (Experiments 1a, b). When asked to judge emotional valence, participants showed the predicted valence mapping. However, when asked to judge emotional intensity, participants showed no systematic intensity mapping. We then tested an alternative explanation of findings previously interpreted as evidence for an intensity mapping (Experiments 2a, b). These results suggest that previous findings may reflect a left-right mapping of spatial magnitude (i.e., the size of a salient feature of the stimuli) rather than emotion. People implicitly spatialize emotional valence, but, at present, there is no clear evidence for an implicit lateral mapping of emotional intensity. These findings support metaphor theory and challenge the proposal that mental magnitudes are represented by a domain-general metric that extends to the domain of emotion. Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Minimum-domain impulse theory for unsteady aerodynamic force

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Kang, L. L.; Liu, L. Q.; Su, W. D.; Wu, J. Z.

2018-01-01

We extend the impulse theory for unsteady aerodynamics from its classic global form to finite-domain formulation then to minimum-domain form and from incompressible to compressible flows. For incompressible flow, the minimum-domain impulse theory raises the finding of Li and Lu ["Force and power of flapping plates in a fluid," J. Fluid Mech. 712, 598-613 (2012)] to a theorem: The entire force with discrete wake is completely determined by only the time rate of impulse of those vortical structures still connecting to the body, along with the Lamb-vector integral thereof that captures the contribution of all the rest disconnected vortical structures. For compressible flows, we find that the global form in terms of the curl of momentum ∇ × (ρu), obtained by Huang [Unsteady Vortical Aerodynamics (Shanghai Jiaotong University Press, 1994)], can be generalized to having an arbitrary finite domain, but the formula is cumbersome and in general ∇ × (ρu) no longer has discrete structures and hence no minimum-domain theory exists. Nevertheless, as the measure of transverse process only, the unsteady field of vorticity ω or ρω may still have a discrete wake. This leads to a minimum-domain compressible vorticity-moment theory in terms of ρω (but it is beyond the classic concept of impulse). These new findings and applications have been confirmed by our numerical experiments. The results not only open an avenue to combine the theory with computation-experiment in wide applications but also reveal a physical truth that it is no longer necessary to account for all wake vortical structures in computing the force and moment.

Developmental origins of health and disease--global public health implications.

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Hanson, M A; Gluckman, P D

2015-01-01

The rapidly rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) represents a major challenge to public health and clinical medicine globally. NCDs are increasing rapidly in high-income countries, but even more rapidly in some low-middle-income countries with insufficient resources to meet the challenge. Whilst not identified in the Millennium Development Goals, there is much attention paid to NCDs in the discussions at many levels on the Sustainable Development Goals, as they underpin economic, social and environmental development in the post-2015 era. In this article, we discuss how a life-course approach to health, commencing of necessity in early development, can provide new opportunities for addressing this challenge. The approach can leverage human health capital throughout life and across generations. New insights into mechanisms, especially those processes by which the developmental environment affects epigenetic processes in the developing offspring, offer the prospect of identifying biomarkers of future risks. New interventions to promote health literacy, lifestyle and physical fitness in adolescents, young adults and their children hold great promise. In this respect, health-care professionals concerned with preconceptional, pregnancy and newborn care will have a vital role to play. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Friendship Predictors of Global Self-Worth and Domain-Specific Self-Concepts in University Students with and without Learning Disability

Science.gov (United States)

Shany, Michal; Wiener, Judith; Assido, Michal

2013-01-01

This study investigated the association among friendship, global self-worth, and domain-specific self-concepts in 102 university students with and without learning disabilities (LD). Students with LD reported lower global self-worth and academic self-concept than students without LD, and this difference was greater for women. Students with LD also…

Quantitative developmental transcriptomes of the Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus.

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Gildor, Tsvia; Malik, Assaf; Sher, Noa; Avraham, Linor; Ben-Tabou de-Leon, Smadar

2016-02-01

Embryonic development progresses through the timely activation of thousands of differentially activated genes. Quantitative developmental transcriptomes provide the means to relate global patterns of differentially expressed genes to the emerging body plans they generate. The sea urchin is one of the classic model systems for embryogenesis and the models of its developmental gene regulatory networks are of the most comprehensive of their kind. Thus, the sea urchin embryo is an excellent system for studies of its global developmental transcriptional profiles. Here we produced quantitative developmental transcriptomes of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (P. lividus) at seven developmental stages from the fertilized egg to prism stage. We generated de-novo reference transcriptome and identified 29,817 genes that are expressed at this time period. We annotated and quantified gene expression at the different developmental stages and confirmed the reliability of the expression profiles by QPCR measurement of a subset of genes. The progression of embryo development is reflected in the observed global expression patterns and in our principle component analysis. Our study illuminates the rich patterns of gene expression that participate in sea urchin embryogenesis and provide an essential resource for further studies of the dynamic expression of P. lividus genes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evolution of SH2 domains and phosphotyrosine signalling networks

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Bernard A.; Nash, Piers D.

2012-01-01

Src homology 2 (SH2) domains mediate selective protein–protein interactions with tyrosine phosphorylated proteins, and in doing so define specificity of phosphotyrosine (pTyr) signalling networks. SH2 domains and protein-tyrosine phosphatases expand alongside protein-tyrosine kinases (PTKs) to coordinate cellular and organismal complexity in the evolution of the unikont branch of the eukaryotes. Examination of conserved families of PTKs and SH2 domain proteins provides fiduciary marks that trace the evolutionary landscape for the development of complex cellular systems in the proto-metazoan and metazoan lineages. The evolutionary provenance of conserved SH2 and PTK families reveals the mechanisms by which diversity is achieved through adaptations in tissue-specific gene transcription, altered ligand binding, insertions of linear motifs and the gain or loss of domains following gene duplication. We discuss mechanisms by which pTyr-mediated signalling networks evolve through the development of novel and expanded families of SH2 domain proteins and the elaboration of connections between pTyr-signalling proteins. These changes underlie the variety of general and specific signalling networks that give rise to tissue-specific functions and increasingly complex developmental programmes. Examination of SH2 domains from an evolutionary perspective provides insight into the process by which evolutionary expansion and modification of molecular protein interaction domain proteins permits the development of novel protein-interaction networks and accommodates adaptation of signalling networks. PMID:22889907

The structural relationships between organizational commitment, global job satisfaction, developmental experiences, work values, organizational support, and person-organization fit among nursing faculty.

Science.gov (United States)

Gutierrez, Antonio P; Candela, Lori L; Carver, Lara

2012-07-01

GUTIERAIM: The aim of this correlational study was to examine the relations between organizational commitment, perceived organizational support, work values, person-organization fit, developmental experiences, and global job satisfaction among nursing faculty. The global nursing shortage is well documented. At least 57 countries have reported critical shortages. The lack of faculty is finally being recognized as a major issue directly influencing the ability to admit and graduate adequate numbers of nurses. As efforts increase to both recruit and retain faculty, the concept of organizational commitment and what it means to them is important to consider. A cross-sectional correlational design was used. The present study investigated the underlying structure of various organizational factors using structural equation modelling. Data were collected from a stratified random sample of nurse faculty during the academic year 2006-2007. The final model demonstrated that perceived organizational support, developmental experiences, person-organization fit, and global job satisfaction positively predicted nurse faculty's organizational commitment to the academic organization. Cross-validation results indicated that the final full SEM is valid and reliable. Nursing faculty administrators able to use mentoring skills are well equipped to build positive relationships with nursing faculty, which in turn, can lead to increased organizational commitment, productivity, job satisfaction, and perceived organizational support, among others. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The genetic links between the big five personality traits and general interest domains.

Science.gov (United States)

Kandler, Christian; Bleidorn, Wiebke; Riemann, Rainer; Angleitner, Alois; Spinath, Frank M

2011-12-01

This is the first genetically informative study in which multiple informants were used to quantify the genetic and environmental sources of individual differences in general interests as well as the phenotypic and genetic links between general interests and Big Five personality traits. Self-reports and two peer ratings from 844 individuals, including 225 monozygotic and 113 dizygotic complete twin pairs, were collected. Multiple-rater scores (composites) revealed that the averaged levels of genetic and environmental effects on seven broad interest domains were similar to those on personality traits. Multivariate analyses showed that about 35% of the genetic and 9% of the environmental variance in interests were explained by personality domains, in particular by Openness. The findings suggest that interests cannot easily be considered as a byproduct of the interactions between personality genotypes and the environmental influences but rather as an internal regulation of behavior with an own genetic basis.

Participation Patterns of Preschool Children With Intellectual Developmental Disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilboa, Yafit; Fuchs, Reut

2018-04-01

We aim to examine the pattern of participation of children with intellectual developmental disabilities (IDD) or global developmental delay (GDD) in comparison with typically developing preschoolers. In addition, to identify environmental and personal factors associated with their participation, 20 children with mild to moderate GDD or IDD, and 24 age- and gender-matched controls, aged 3 to 6 years, were assessed using the Assessment of Preschool Children's Participation and the Environmental Restriction Questionnaire. Significant differences were found between the groups, both for general scales of participation and for each activity area. For the IDD/GDD group, participation was significantly negatively correlated with environmental restrictions at home. For the control group, participation was correlated with demographic variables. Typically developing children participate at a higher frequency and in a more diverse range of activities compared with children with IDD/GDD. Associations between participation and contextual factors varied depending on the child's health condition.

Image encryption using random sequence generated from generalized information domain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Xia-Yan; Wu Jie-Hua; Zhang Guo-Ji; Li Xuan; Ren Ya-Zhou

2016-01-01

A novel image encryption method based on the random sequence generated from the generalized information domain and permutation–diffusion architecture is proposed. The random sequence is generated by reconstruction from the generalized information file and discrete trajectory extraction from the data stream. The trajectory address sequence is used to generate a P-box to shuffle the plain image while random sequences are treated as keystreams. A new factor called drift factor is employed to accelerate and enhance the performance of the random sequence generator. An initial value is introduced to make the encryption method an approximately one-time pad. Experimental results show that the random sequences pass the NIST statistical test with a high ratio and extensive analysis demonstrates that the new encryption scheme has superior security. (paper)

Heterogeneity of Developmental Dyscalculia: Cases with Different Deficit Profiles.

Science.gov (United States)

Träff, Ulf; Olsson, Linda; Östergren, Rickard; Skagerlund, Kenny

2016-01-01

Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) has long been thought to be a monolithic learning disorder that can be attributed to a specific neurocognitive dysfunction. However, recent research has increasingly recognized the heterogeneity of DD, where DD can be differentiated into subtypes in which the underlying cognitive deficits and neural dysfunctions may differ. The aim was to further understand the heterogeneity of developmental dyscalculia (DD) from a cognitive psychological perspective. Utilizing four children (8-9 year-old) we administered a comprehensive cognitive test battery that shed light on the cognitive-behavioral profile of each child. The children were compared against norm groups of aged-matched peers. Performance was then contrasted against predominant hypotheses of DD, which would also give insight into candidate neurocognitive correlates. Despite showing similar mathematical deficits, these children showed remarkable interindividual variability regarding cognitive profile and deficits. Two cases were consistent with the approximate number system deficit account and also the general magnitude-processing deficit account. These cases showed indications of having domain-general deficits as well. One case had an access deficit in combination with a general cognitive deficit. One case suffered from general cognitive deficits only. The results showed that DD cannot be attributed to a single explanatory factor. These findings support a multiple deficits account of DD and suggest that some cases have multiple deficits, whereas other cases have a single deficit. We discuss a previously proposed distinction between primary DD and secondary DD, and suggest hypotheses of dysfunctional neurocognitive correlates responsible for the displayed deficits.

Equivalence of linear canonical transform domains to fractional Fourier domains and the bicanonical width product: a generalization of the space-bandwidth product.

Science.gov (United States)

Oktem, Figen S; Ozaktas, Haldun M

2010-08-01

Linear canonical transforms (LCTs) form a three-parameter family of integral transforms with wide application in optics. We show that LCT domains correspond to scaled fractional Fourier domains and thus to scaled oblique axes in the space-frequency plane. This allows LCT domains to be labeled and ordered by the corresponding fractional order parameter and provides insight into the evolution of light through an optical system modeled by LCTs. If a set of signals is highly confined to finite intervals in two arbitrary LCT domains, the space-frequency (phase space) support is a parallelogram. The number of degrees of freedom of this set of signals is given by the area of this parallelogram, which is equal to the bicanonical width product but usually smaller than the conventional space-bandwidth product. The bicanonical width product, which is a generalization of the space-bandwidth product, can provide a tighter measure of the actual number of degrees of freedom, and allows us to represent and process signals with fewer samples.

Developmental outcomes of Japanese children born through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) in toddlerhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Aoki, Sayaka; Hashimoto, Keiji; Ogawa, Kohei; Horikawa, Reiko; Sago, Haruhiko

2018-05-01

This study aimed to investigate developmental outcomes of Japanese babies born through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) at ages 2 and 3. The data were gathered from 1085 children in a hospital-based cohort study conducted in Japan. The children's level of development was assessed through a parent-rated questionnaire, the Kinder Infant Development Scale, which consists of nine developmental domains. We compared the development of children born through ART and those born naturally by conducting analyses of covariance. For the analyses, the effect of maternal age, family income, parental education and multiple birth were controlled for. At 24 months, no significant difference was found between children born through ART and those born naturally in development in any domain. At 36 months, a significant difference was found in development of Receptive language (F (1, 845) = 6.148, P = 0.013), Expressive language (F (1, 845) = 4.060, P = 0.044) and Language concept (F (1, 845) = 6.968, P = 0.008). For these domains, children born through ART had a significantly higher developmental age compared to children born naturally. At age 2, no significant difference was found between the children born through ART and those born naturally in nine developmental domains, although at age 3, the children born through ART showed significantly better language development than the children born naturally. © 2018 Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Climatic irregular staircases: generalized acceleration of global warming.

Science.gov (United States)

De Saedeleer, Bernard

2016-01-27

Global warming rates mentioned in the literature are often restricted to a couple of arbitrary periods of time, or of isolated values of the starting year, lacking a global view. In this study, we perform on the contrary an exhaustive parametric analysis of the NASA GISS LOTI data, and also of the HadCRUT4 data. The starting year systematically varies between 1880 and 2002, and the averaging period from 5 to 30 yr - not only decades; the ending year also varies . In this way, we uncover a whole unexplored space of values for the global warming rate, and access the full picture. Additionally, stairstep averaging and linear least squares fitting to determine climatic trends have been sofar exclusive. We propose here an original hybrid method which combines both approaches in order to derive a new type of climatic trend. We find that there is an overall acceleration of the global warming whatever the value of the averaging period, and that 99.9% of the 3029 Earth's climatic irregular staircases are rising. Graphical evidence is also given that choosing an El Niño year as starting year gives lower global warming rates - except if there is a volcanic cooling in parallel. Our rates agree and generalize several results mentioned in the literature.

29 CFR 1902.33 - Developmental period.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... consideration of developmental changes by OSHA. Generally, whenever a State completes a developmental step, it must submit the resulting plan change as a supplement to its plan to OSHA for approval. OSHA's approval...

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Evaluation of Developmental Delay in Pediatric Patients

OpenAIRE

Ali, Althaf S.; Syed, Naziya P.; Murthy, G.S.N.; Nori, Madhavi; Abkari, Anand; Pooja, B.K.; Venkateswarlu, J.

2015-01-01

Introduction: Developmental delay is defined as significant delay in one or more developmental domains. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the best modality to investigate such patients. Evaluation of a child with developmental delay is important not only because it allows early diagnosis and treatment but also helpful for parental counseling regarding the outcome of their child and to identify any possible risk of recurrence in the siblings. Thus this study was undertaken to evaluate the de...

Strong diamagnetism for general domains and applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fournais, Søren; Helffer, Bernard

2007-01-01

We consider the Neumann Laplacian with constant magnetic field on a regular domain. Let $B$ be the strength of the magnetic field, and let $\\lambda_1(B)$ be the first eigenvalue of the magnetic Neumann Laplacian on the domain. It is proved that $B \\mapsto \\lambda_1(B)$ is monotone increasing for ...

Individual differences in executive function and central coherence predict developmental changes in theory of mind in autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Pellicano, Elizabeth

2010-03-01

There is strong evidence to suggest that individuals with autism show atypicalities in multiple cognitive domains, including theory of mind (ToM), executive function (EF), and central coherence (CC). In this study, the longitudinal relationships among these 3 aspects of cognition in autism were investigated. Thirty-seven cognitively able children with an autism spectrum condition were assessed on tests targeting ToM (false-belief prediction), EF (planning ability, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control), and CC (local processing) at intake and again 3 years later. Time 1 EF and CC skills were longitudinally predictive of change in children's ToM test performance, independent of age, language, nonverbal intelligence, and early ToM skills. Predictive relations in the opposite direction were not significant, and there were no developmental links between EF and CC. Rather than showing problems in ToM, EF and CC as co-occurring and independent atypicalities in autism, these findings suggest that early domain-general skills play a critical role in shaping the developmental trajectory of children's ToM.

Maternal age and offspring developmental vulnerability at age five: A population-based cohort study of Australian children.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kathleen Falster

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In recent decades, there has been a shift to later childbearing in high-income countries. There is limited large-scale evidence of the relationship between maternal age and child outcomes beyond the perinatal period. The objective of this study is to quantify a child's risk of developmental vulnerability at age five, according to their mother's age at childbirth.Linkage of population-level perinatal, hospital, and birth registration datasets to data from the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC and school enrolments in Australia's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW, enabled us to follow a cohort of 99,530 children from birth to their first year of school in 2009 or 2012. The study outcome was teacher-reported child development on five domains measured by the AEDC, including physical health and well-being, emotional maturity, social competence, language and cognitive skills, and communication skills and general knowledge. Developmental vulnerability was defined as domain scores below the 2009 AEDC 10th percentile cut point. The mean maternal age at childbirth was 29.6 years (standard deviation [SD], 5.7, with 4,382 children (4.4% born to mothers aged <20 years and 20,026 children (20.1% born to mothers aged ≥35 years. The proportion vulnerable on ≥1 domains was 21% overall and followed a reverse J-shaped distribution according to maternal age: it was highest in children born to mothers aged ≤15 years, at 40% (95% CI, 32-49, and was lowest in children born to mothers aged between 30 years and ≤35 years, at 17%-18%. For maternal ages 36 years to ≥45 years, the proportion vulnerable on ≥1 domains increased to 17%-24%. Adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics significantly attenuated vulnerability risk in children born to younger mothers, while adjustment for potentially modifiable factors, such as antenatal visits, had little additional impact across all ages. Although the multi-agency linkage yielded a broad range of

Selective Short-Term Memory Deficits Arise from Impaired Domain-General Semantic Control Mechanisms

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, Paul; Jefferies, Elizabeth; Ehsan, Sheeba; Hopper, Samantha; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A.

2009-01-01

Semantic short-term memory (STM) patients have a reduced ability to retain semantic information over brief delays but perform well on other semantic tasks; this pattern suggests damage to a dedicated buffer for semantic information. Alternatively, these difficulties may arise from mild disruption to domain-general semantic processes that have…

A frequency-domain approach to improve ANNs generalization quality via proper initialization.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaari, Majdi; Fekih, Afef; Seibi, Abdennour C; Hmida, Jalel Ben

2018-08-01

The ability to train a network without memorizing the input/output data, thereby allowing a good predictive performance when applied to unseen data, is paramount in ANN applications. In this paper, we propose a frequency-domain approach to evaluate the network initialization in terms of quality of training, i.e., generalization capabilities. As an alternative to the conventional time-domain methods, the proposed approach eliminates the approximate nature of network validation using an excess of unseen data. The benefits of the proposed approach are demonstrated using two numerical examples, where two trained networks performed similarly on the training and the validation data sets, yet they revealed a significant difference in prediction accuracy when tested using a different data set. This observation is of utmost importance in modeling applications requiring a high degree of accuracy. The efficiency of the proposed approach is further demonstrated on a real-world problem, where unlike other initialization methods, a more conclusive assessment of generalization is achieved. On the practical front, subtle methodological and implementational facets are addressed to ensure reproducibility and pinpoint the limitations of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Associations between obesity and developmental functioning in pre-school children: a population-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mond, J M; Stich, H; Hay, P J; Kraemer, A; Baune, B T

2007-07-01

To examine associations between obesity and impairment in developmental functioning in a general population sample of pre-school children. Standardized medical examinations were conducted in nine consecutive cohorts of male and female children (n=9415) aged between 4.4 and 8.6 years (mean=6.0, s.d.=0.37) residing in the Lower Bavaria region of Germany. Tests designed to assess performance in subdivisions representing four broad developmental domains, namely, motor development, speech development, cognitive development and psycho-social development, were completed by all participants. Boys had significantly higher rates of impairment than girls. The prevalence of obesity in boys was 2.4%, whereas in girls it was 4.3% (chi (2)=21.51, Pmotor skills was higher among obese male children than normal-weight male children (adjusted odds ratio=1.76, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.02, 3.01, Pability to focus attention was higher in obese female children than normal-weight female children (adjusted odds ratio=1.86, 95% CI=1.00, 3.44, Pobesity and impairment in specific aspects of developmental functioning may be evident in younger children.

Axion-dilaton domain walls and fake supergravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sonner, Julian; Townsend, Paul K

2007-01-01

Dynamical systems methods are used to investigate domain-wall solutions of a two-parameter family of models in which gravity is coupled to an axion and to a dilaton with an exponential potential of either sign. A complete global analysis is presented for (i) constant axion and (ii) flat walls, including a study of bifurcations and a new exact domain-wall solution with non-constant axion. We reconsider 'fake-supergravity' issues in light of these results. We show, by example, how domain walls determine multi-valued superpotentials that branch at stationary points that are not stationary points of the potential, and we apply this result to potentials with anti-de Sitter vacua. We also show by example that 'adapted' truncation to a single-scalar model may be inconsistent, and we propose a 'generalized' fake-supergravity formalism that applies in some such cases

Domain-Generality of Timing-Based Serial Order Processes in Short-Term Memory: New Insights from Musical and Verbal Domains.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon Gorin

Full Text Available Several models in the verbal domain of short-term memory (STM consider a dissociation between item and order processing. This view is supported by data demonstrating that different types of time-based interference have a greater effect on memory for the order of to-be-remembered items than on memory for the items themselves. The present study investigated the domain-generality of the item versus serial order dissociation by comparing the differential effects of time-based interfering tasks, such as rhythmic interference and articulatory suppression, on item and order processing in verbal and musical STM domains. In Experiment 1, participants had to maintain sequences of verbal or musical information in STM, followed by a probe sequence, this under different conditions of interference (no-interference, rhythmic interference, articulatory suppression. They were required to decide whether all items of the probe list matched those of the memory list (item condition or whether the order of the items in the probe sequence matched the order in the memory list (order condition. In Experiment 2, participants performed a serial order probe recognition task for verbal and musical sequences ensuring sequential maintenance processes, under no-interference or rhythmic interference conditions. For Experiment 1, serial order recognition was not significantly more impacted by interfering tasks than was item recognition, this for both verbal and musical domains. For Experiment 2, we observed selective interference of the rhythmic interference condition on both musical and verbal order STM tasks. Overall, the results suggest a similar and selective sensitivity to time-based interference for serial order STM in verbal and musical domains, but only when the STM tasks ensure sequential maintenance processes.

Domain-Generality of Timing-Based Serial Order Processes in Short-Term Memory: New Insights from Musical and Verbal Domains.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorin, Simon; Kowialiewski, Benjamin; Majerus, Steve

2016-01-01

Several models in the verbal domain of short-term memory (STM) consider a dissociation between item and order processing. This view is supported by data demonstrating that different types of time-based interference have a greater effect on memory for the order of to-be-remembered items than on memory for the items themselves. The present study investigated the domain-generality of the item versus serial order dissociation by comparing the differential effects of time-based interfering tasks, such as rhythmic interference and articulatory suppression, on item and order processing in verbal and musical STM domains. In Experiment 1, participants had to maintain sequences of verbal or musical information in STM, followed by a probe sequence, this under different conditions of interference (no-interference, rhythmic interference, articulatory suppression). They were required to decide whether all items of the probe list matched those of the memory list (item condition) or whether the order of the items in the probe sequence matched the order in the memory list (order condition). In Experiment 2, participants performed a serial order probe recognition task for verbal and musical sequences ensuring sequential maintenance processes, under no-interference or rhythmic interference conditions. For Experiment 1, serial order recognition was not significantly more impacted by interfering tasks than was item recognition, this for both verbal and musical domains. For Experiment 2, we observed selective interference of the rhythmic interference condition on both musical and verbal order STM tasks. Overall, the results suggest a similar and selective sensitivity to time-based interference for serial order STM in verbal and musical domains, but only when the STM tasks ensure sequential maintenance processes.

General Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence and Academic Knowledge as Predictors of Creativity Domains: A Study of Gifted Students

Science.gov (United States)

Sahin, Feyzullah

2016-01-01

Creativity of the individual is dependent on numerous factors, such as knowledge, general intelligence and emotional intelligence. The general purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of general intelligence, emotional intelligence and academic knowledge on the emerging of domain-specific creativity. The study was conducted on 178…

The Development of Global and Domain Self-Esteem from Ages 10 to 16 for Mexican-Origin Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Michelle A.; Wetzel, Eunike; Robins, Richard W.; Donnellan, M. Brent; Trzesniewski, Kali H.

2018-01-01

The current study investigated the development of global and domain (academic, physical, same-sex peer relationship, opposite-sex peer relationship) self-esteem from age 10 to 16 in a sample of Mexican-origin adolescents. Participants' (N = 674) responses on the Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ; Marsh, 2005) II-S showed moderate rank-order…

The interrelationships between motor, cognitive, and language development in children with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Houwen, Suzanne; Visser, Linda; van der Putten, Annette; Vlaskamp, Carla

2016-01-01

It is generally agreed that cognitive and language development are dependent on the emergence of motor skills. As the literature on this issue concerning children with developmental disabilities is scarce, we examined the interrelationships between motor, cognitive, and language development in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and compared them to those in children without IDD. In addition, we investigated whether these relationships differ between children with different levels of cognitive delay. Seventy-seven children with IDD (calendar age between 1;0 and 9;10 years; mean developmental age: 1;8 years) and 130 typically developing children (calendar age between 0;3 and 3;6 years; mean developmental age: 1;10 years) were tested with the Dutch Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition, which assesses development across three domains using five subscales: fine motor development, gross motor development (motor), cognition (cognitive), receptive communication, and expressive communication (language). Results showed that correlations between the motor, cognitive, and language domains were strong, namely .61 to .94 in children with IDD and weak to strong, namely .24 to .56 in children without IDD. Furthermore, the correlations showed a tendency to increase with the severity of IDD. It can be concluded that both fine and gross motor development are more strongly associated with cognition, and consequently language, in children with IDD than in children without IDD. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of early interventions that boost both motor and cognitive development, and suggest that such interventions will also enhance language development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

77 FR 13367 - General Electric-Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment, LLC, Proposed Laser-Based Uranium Enrichment...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-06

... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC-2009-0157] General Electric-Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment, LLC, Proposed Laser-Based Uranium Enrichment Facility, Wilmington, NC AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory... Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed General Electric- Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment, LLC (GLE...

RG domain wall for the general (su)-hat (2) coset models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stanishkov, Marian [Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy,Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1784 Sofia (Bulgaria)

2016-08-16

We consider a RG flow in a general (su)-hat (2) coset model induced by the least relevant field. This is done using two different approaches. We first compute the mixing coefficients of certain fields in the UV and IR theories using a conformal perturbation theory. The necessary structure constants are computed. The same coefficients can be calculated using the RG domain wall construction of Gaiotto. We compute the corresponding one-point functions and show that the two approaches give the same result in the leading order.

Heinz Werner: His Life, Ideas, and Contributions to Developmental Psychology in the First Half of the 20th Century.

Science.gov (United States)

Ostler, Teresa

2016-01-01

The author provides an overview of Heinz Werner's life and contributions to the field of developmental psychology during the first half of the 20th century. She focuses on his early work in Vienna and Munich as well as his tenure at the Psychological Institute in Hamburg, up through the time when he became a named Professor in Psychology at Clark University. Recognized as one of the founders of developmental psychology, Heinz Werner worked in the areas of perceptual development, comparative psychology, and symbol formation. Versatile in rigorous experimental methodologies, and in observational and phenomenological methodologies, Werner's approach to development stood in contrast to other approaches of development, both past and current. For Werner, development was a heuristic, a way of looking at processes in a variety of domains, including ontogeny, phylogeny, microgenesis, biology, developmental psychopathology, neuropsychology, and comparative psychology. Werner viewed development as proceeding from a state of relative globality and lack of differentiation to a state of increasing differentiation, articulation, and hierarchical integration, but he also stressed that individuals can function at different developmental levels under different times and conditions. Werner's holistic, organismic, comparative, and contextual approach to development transcended interdisciplinary boundaries, allowing him to study the interrelatedness between thought, language, feeling, perception, and culture.

.Gov Domains API

Data.gov (United States)

General Services Administration — This dataset offers the list of all .gov domains, including state, local, and tribal .gov domains. It does not include .mil domains, or other federal domains outside...

Updates in the genetic evaluation of the child with global developmental delay or intellectual disability.

Science.gov (United States)

Flore, Leigh Anne; Milunsky, Jeff M

2012-12-01

Global developmental delay (GDD) and intellectual disability (ID) occur in up to 3% of the general population and are even more commonly encountered in the setting of the pediatric neurology clinic. New advances in technology and in the understanding of genetic disorders have led to changes in the diagnostic approach to a child with unexplained GDD or ID. Chromosomal microarray has become a first-line test for evaluation of patients in this population and has both significantly increased diagnostic yield and introduced new challenges in the interpretation of copy number variants of uncertain significance. The G-banded karyotype is now frequently utilized as an adjunct to the microarray rather than as a first-line test in individuals with GDD or ID. Fragile X DNA testing continues to be recommended in the initial evaluation of the child with GDD or ID. The presence or absence of certain cardinal features (such as microcephaly or macrocephaly, seizures, autism, abnormal neurologic examination, and facial dysmorphism) can be utilized to direct single-gene molecular testing. The availability of next-generation and massively parallel sequencing technologies has enabled the use of genetic testing panels, in which dozens of genes associated with GDD or ID may be rapidly analyzed. Most recently, the clinical availability of whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing has opened new possibilities for the evaluation of individuals with GDD or ID who have previously eluded a genetic diagnosis. Consultation with a medical geneticist is recommended when progressing beyond first-tier analyses to most efficiently prioritize testing. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of a training program for general ultrasound screening for developmental dysplasia of the hip in preventive child health care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boere-Boonekamp, Magdalena M.; Ramwadhdoebe, S.; Sakkers, R.J.B.; Uiterwaal, Cuno S.P.M.; Beek, Frederik J.A.

2010-01-01

Background: A research study in the Netherlands showed that general ultrasound (US) screening was cost-effective in the detection of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). This study was followed by a pilot implementation study. Part of this pilot implementation study is to investigate whether

Children's Comprehension of Object Relative Sentences: It's Extant Language Knowledge That Matters, Not Domain-General Working Memory

Science.gov (United States)

Rusli, Yazmin Ahmad; Montgomery, James W.

2017-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether extant language (lexical) knowledge or domain-general working memory is the better predictor of comprehension of object relative sentences for children with typical development. We hypothesized that extant language knowledge, not domain-general working memory, is the better predictor. Method:…

Impact of stuttering severity on adolescents' domain-specific and general self-esteem through cognitive and emotional mediating processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Adriaensens, Stefanie; Beyers, Wim; Struyf, Elke

2015-01-01

The theory that self-esteem is substantially constructed based on social interactions implies that having a stutter could have a negative impact on self-esteem. Specifically, self-esteem during adolescence, a period of life characterized by increased self-consciousness, could be at risk. In addition to studying mean differences between stuttering and non-stuttering adolescents, this article concentrates on the influence of stuttering severity on domain-specific and general self-esteem. Subsequently, we investigate if covert processes on negative communication attitudes, experienced stigma, non-disclosure of stuttering, and (mal)adaptive perfectionism mediate the relationship between stuttering severity and self-esteem. Our sample comprised 55 stuttering and 76 non-stuttering adolescents. They were asked to fill in a battery of questionnaires, consisting of: Subjective Screening of Stuttering, Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents, Erickson S-24, Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, and the Stigmatization and Disclosure in Adolescents Who Stutter Scale. SEM (structural equation modeling) analyses showed that stuttering severity negatively influences adolescents' evaluations of social acceptance, school competence, the competence to experience a close friendship, and global self-esteem. Maladaptive perfectionism and especially negative communication attitudes fully mediate the negative influence of stuttering severity on self-esteem. Group comparison showed that the mediation model applies to both stuttering and non-stuttering adolescents. We acknowledge the impact of having a stutter on those domains of the self in which social interactions and communication matter most. We then accentuate that negative attitudes about communication situations and excessive worries about saying things in ways they perceive as wrong are important processes to consider with regard to the self-esteem of adolescents who stutter. Moreover, we provide evidence that these covert

Developmental analytic view on narcissism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Polona Matjan Štuhec

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Narcissistic pathology is connected to the pathology of the self. This article makes an overview of definitions of developmental analytic theories and stops with Kohut, Kernberg, Masterson, Auerbach and Mollon. The self is understood as a separate personality structure and has its own developmental line. Narcissism is a personality disorder that has its roots in preodipal developmental phases, mostly in the practicing and rapprochement subphase and in the oedipal phase as well. Recent research shows that the oedipal phase and the relation between the mother, the child's father (or her partner in general and the child is crucial for the maintenance of the pathological narcissism. Mothers who do not believe in a satisfying relationship with a man in general, keep the child in the dyadic position and do not support the development of the child's own identity.

A global reference model of the domain name system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koc, Y.; Jamakovic, A.; Gijsen, B.M.M.

2012-01-01

The domain name system (DNS) is a crucial component of the Internet. At this time, the DNS is facing major changes such as the introduction of DNSSEC and Internationalized Domain Name extensions (IDNs), the adoption of IPv6 and the upcoming extension of new generic top-level domains. These changes

Domains of Risk in the Developmental Continuity of Fire Setting

OpenAIRE

McCarty, Carolyn A.; McMahon, Robert J.

2005-01-01

Juvenile fire setting is a serious, dangerous, and costly behavior. The majority of research examining youth fire setting has been cross-sectional. We sought to examine early risk attributes that could differentiate fire setters from non–fire setters, in addition to examining their association with the developmental continuity of fire-setting behavior into late childhood. Using a sample of 361 youth drawn from 4 different U.S. communities, this study examined the association between a broad a...

A frequency domain global parameter estimation method for multiple reference frequency response measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Shih, C. Y.; Tsuei, Y. G.; Allemang, R. J.; Brown, D. L.

1988-10-01

A method of using the matrix Auto-Regressive Moving Average (ARMA) model in the Laplace domain for multiple-reference global parameter identification is presented. This method is particularly applicable to the area of modal analysis where high modal density exists. The method is also applicable when multiple reference frequency response functions are used to characterise linear systems. In order to facilitate the mathematical solution, the Forsythe orthogonal polynomial is used to reduce the ill-conditioning of the formulated equations and to decouple the normal matrix into two reduced matrix blocks. A Complex Mode Indicator Function (CMIF) is introduced, which can be used to determine the proper order of the rational polynomials.

Developmental enamel defects and their impact on child oral health-related quality of life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabiana Vargas-Ferreira

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This cross-sectional study assessed the impact of Developmental Enamel Defects (DED on Child Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (COHRQoL. A sample of 944 11- to 14-year-old Brazilian schoolchildren was examined for the prevalence and severity of DED. The children completed the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ11-14, and socioeconomic status was also collected using a questionnaire. Poisson regression models were used to assess the association between DED and overall and domain-specific CPQ11-14 scores. The prevalence of DED was 19.7%. In general, children with DED did not indicate any decrease in self-perception. However, this condition was associated with an impact on the functional limitation domain. The presence of DED may cause negative impacts on a child's perception of oral health and on their daily performance.

Generation of mice lacking DUF1220 protein domains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Keeney, J G; O'Bleness, M S; Anderson, N

2015-01-01

associations, a function for these domains has not been described. As a first step in addressing this question, we have developed the first transgenic model of DUF1220 function by removing the single DUF1220 domain (the ancestral form) encoded in the mouse genome. In a hypothesis generating exercise...... function, and potentially suggests a role in developmental metabolism. Finally, the substantially reduced fecundity we observe associated with KO mice argues that the ancestral DUF1220 domain provides an important biological functionthat is critical to survivability and reproductive success....

The scaling structure of the global road network.

Science.gov (United States)

Strano, Emanuele; Giometto, Andrea; Shai, Saray; Bertuzzo, Enrico; Mucha, Peter J; Rinaldo, Andrea

2017-10-01

Because of increasing global urbanization and its immediate consequences, including changes in patterns of food demand, circulation and land use, the next century will witness a major increase in the extent of paved roads built worldwide. To model the effects of this increase, it is crucial to understand whether possible self-organized patterns are inherent in the global road network structure. Here, we use the largest updated database comprising all major roads on the Earth, together with global urban and cropland inventories, to suggest that road length distributions within croplands are indistinguishable from urban ones, once rescaled to account for the difference in mean road length. Such similarity extends to road length distributions within urban or agricultural domains of a given area. We find two distinct regimes for the scaling of the mean road length with the associated area, holding in general at small and at large values of the latter. In suitably large urban and cropland domains, we find that mean and total road lengths increase linearly with their domain area, differently from earlier suggestions. Scaling regimes suggest that simple and universal mechanisms regulate urban and cropland road expansion at the global scale. As such, our findings bear implications for global road infrastructure growth based on land-use change and for planning policies sustaining urban expansions.

Global Developmental Gene Programing Involves a Nuclear Form of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor-1 (FGFR1.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher Terranova

Full Text Available Genetic studies have placed the Fgfr1 gene at the top of major ontogenic pathways that enable gastrulation, tissue development and organogenesis. Using genome-wide sequencing and loss and gain of function experiments the present investigation reveals a mechanism that underlies global and direct gene regulation by the nuclear form of FGFR1, ensuring that pluripotent Embryonic Stem Cells differentiate into Neuronal Cells in response to Retinoic Acid. Nuclear FGFR1, both alone and with its partner nuclear receptors RXR and Nur77, targets thousands of active genes and controls the expression of pluripotency, homeobox, neuronal and mesodermal genes. Nuclear FGFR1 targets genes in developmental pathways represented by Wnt/β-catenin, CREB, BMP, the cell cycle and cancer-related TP53 pathway, neuroectodermal and mesodermal programing networks, axonal growth and synaptic plasticity pathways. Nuclear FGFR1 targets the consensus sequences of transcription factors known to engage CREB-binding protein, a common coregulator of transcription and established binding partner of nuclear FGFR1. This investigation reveals the role of nuclear FGFR1 as a global genomic programmer of cell, neural and muscle development.

Global nuclear developments and the IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei reviews achievements, challenges at IAEA General Conference

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

In a statement to the 44th regular session of the Agency's General Conference (18 - 22 September 2000, Austria Center Vienna), the IAEA Director General reviewed nuclear developments from the IAEA perspectives. In this connection, the Director General signalled the IAEA's achievements and its readiness to provide its services as may be requested in response to global developments. He also underlined present and future challenges shaping the IAEA agenda, including financial challenges

Full Wave Analysis of Passive Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuit Devices Using a Generalized Finite Difference Time Domain (GFDTD) Algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Lansing, Faiza S.; Rascoe, Daniel L.

1993-01-01

This paper presents a modified Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) technique using a generalized conformed orthogonal grid. The use of the Conformed Orthogonal Grid, Finite Difference Time Domain (GFDTD) enables the designer to match all the circuit dimensions, hence eliminating a major source o error in the analysis.

Global existence result for the generalized Peterlin viscoelastic model

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Lukáčová-Medviďová, M.; Mizerová, H.; Nečasová, Šárka; Renardy, M.

2017-01-01

Roč. 49, č. 4 (2017), s. 2950-2964 ISSN 0036-1410 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-00522S Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : Peterlin viscoelastic equations * global existence * weak solutions Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics OBOR OECD: Pure mathematics Impact factor: 1.648, year: 2016 http://epubs.siam.org/doi/abs/10.1137/16M1068505

The relation between working memory components and ADHD symptoms from a developmental perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Tillman, Carin; Eninger, Lilianne; Forssman, Linda; Bohlin, Gunilla

2011-01-01

The objective was to examine the relations between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and four working memory (WM) components (short-term memory and central executive in verbal and visuospatial domains) in 284 6-16-year-old children from the general population. The results showed that verbal and visuospatial short-term memory and verbal central executive uniquely contributed to inattention symptoms. Age interacted with verbal short-term memory in predicting inattention, with the relation being stronger in older children. These findings support the notion of ADHD as a developmental disorder, with changes in associated neuropsychological deficits across time. The results further indicate ADHD-related deficits in several specific WM components.

Measuring the global domain name system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Casalicchio, E.; Shen, Xuemin; Caselli, M.; Coletta, A.

2013-01-01

The Internet is a worldwide distributed critical infrastructure, and it is composed of many vital components. While IP routing is the most important service, today the Domain Name System can be classified as the second most important, and has been defined as a critical infrastructure as well. DNS

Young Children’s Developmental Ecologies and Kindergarten Readiness

Science.gov (United States)

Mollborn, Stefanie

2016-01-01

Children enter the crucial transition to school with sociodemographic disparities firmly established. Domain-specific research (e.g., on poverty and family structure) has shed light on these disparities, but we need broader operationalizations of children’s environments to explain them. Building on existing theory, this study articulates the concept of developmental ecology—those interrelated features of a child’s proximal environment that shape development and health. Developmental ecology links structural and demographic factors with interactional, psychological, and genetic factors. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), this study conducts latent class analyses to identify how 41 factors from three domains—namely, household resources, health risks, and ecological changes—cluster within children as four overarching developmental ecologies. Because it documents how numerous factors co-occur within children, this method allows an approximation of their lived environments. Findings illuminate powerful relationships between race/ethnicity, parental age, socioeconomic background, and nativity and a child’s developmental ecology, as well as associations between developmental ecology and kindergarten cognition, behavior, and health. Developmental ecology represents a major pathway through which demographic characteristics shape school readiness. Because specific factors have different implications depending on the ecologies in which they are embedded, findings support the usefulness of a broad ecological approach. PMID:27873222

Exact solution of an electroosmotic flow for generalized Burgers fluid in cylindrical domain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masood Khan

Full Text Available The present paper reports a theoretical study of the dynamics of an electroosmotic flow (EOF in cylindrical domain. The Cauchy momentum equation is first simplified by incorporating the electrostatic body force in the electric double layer and the generalized Burgers fluid constitutive model. The electric potential distribution is given by the linearized Poisson–Boltzmann equation. After solving the linearized Poisson–Boltzmann equation, the Cauchy momentum equation with electrostatic body force is solved analytically by using the temporal Fourier and finite Hankel transforms. The effects of important involved parameters are examined and presented graphically. The results obtained reveal that the magnitude of velocity increases with increase of the Debye–Huckel and electrokinetic parameters. Further, it is shown that the results presented for generalized Burgers fluid are quite general so that results for the Burgers, Oldroyd-B, Maxwell and Newtonian fluids can be obtained as limiting cases. Keywords: Generalized Burgers fluid, Electroosmotic flow, Fourier and Hankel transform

Alignment of crystal orientations of the multi-domain photonic crystals in Parides sesostris wing scales

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshioka, S.; Fujita, H.; Kinoshita, S.; Matsuhana, B.

2014-01-01

It is known that the wing scales of the emerald-patched cattleheart butterfly, Parides sesostris, contain gyroid-type photonic crystals, which produce a green structural colour. However, the photonic crystal is not a single crystal that spreads over the entire scale, but it is separated into many small domains with different crystal orientations. As a photonic crystal generally has band gaps at different frequencies depending on the direction of light propagation, it seems mysterious that the scale is observed to be uniformly green under an optical microscope despite the multi-domain structure. In this study, we have carefully investigated the structure of the wing scale and discovered that the crystal orientations of different domains are not perfectly random, but there is a preferred crystal orientation that is aligned along the surface normal of the scale. This finding suggests that there is an additional factor during the developmental process of the microstructure that regulates the crystal orientation. PMID:24352678

Reduced density matrix embedding. General formalism and inter-domain correlation functional.

Science.gov (United States)

Pernal, Katarzyna

2016-08-03

An embedding method for a one-electron reduced density matrix (1-RDM) is proposed. It is based on partitioning of 1-RDM into domains and describing each domain in the effective potential of the other ones. To assure N-representability of the total 1-RDM N-representability and strong-orthogonality conditions are imposed on the domains. The total energy is given as a sum of single-domain energies and domain-domain electron interaction contributions. Higher than two-body inter-domain interaction terms are neglected. The two-body correlation terms are approximated by deriving inter-domain correlation from couplings of density fluctuations of two domains at a time. Unlike in most density embedding methods kinetic energy is treated exactly and it is not required that densities pertaining to the domains are only weakly overlapping. We propose to treat each domain by a corrected perfect-pairing functional. On a few examples it is shown that the embedding reduced density matrix functional method (ERDMF) yields excellent results for molecules that are well described by a single Lewis structure even if strong static intra-domain or dynamic inter-domain correlation effects must be accounted for.

An embedded domain specific language for general purpose vectorization

CERN Document Server

Karpinski, Przemyslaw

2017-01-01

Portable SIMD code generation is an open problem in modern High Performance Computing systems. Performance portability can already be achieved, however it might fail when user-framework interaction is required. Of all portable vectorization techniques, explicit vectorization, using wrapper-class libraries, is proven to achieve the fastest performance, however it does not exploit optimization opportunities outside the simplest algebraic primitives. A more advanced language is therefore required, but the design of a new independent language is not feasible due to its high costs. This work describes an Embedded Domain Specific Language for solving generalized 1-D vectorization problems. The language is implemented using C++ as a host language and published as a lightweight library. By decoupling expression creation from evaluation a wider range of problems can be solved, without sacrificing runtime efficiency. In this paper we discuss design patterns necessary, but not limited, to efficient EDSL implementatio...

Everyday Memory in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, I-Chen; Tsai, Pei-Luen; Hsu, Yung-Wen; Ma, Hui-Ing; Lai, Hsuan-An

2013-01-01

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have deficits in working memory, but little is known about the everyday memory of these children in real-life situations. We investigated the everyday memory function in children with DCD, and explored the specific profile of everyday memory across different domains. Nineteen children with…

Predicting first-grade mathematics achievement: The contributions of domain-general cognitive abilities, nonverbal number sense, and early number competence.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caroline eHornung

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Early number competence, grounded in number-specific and domain-general cognitive abilities, is theorized to lay the foundation for later math achievement. Few longitudinal studies have tested a comprehensive model for early math development. Using structural equation modeling and mediation analyses, the present work examined the influence of kindergarteners’ nonverbal number sense and domain-general abilities i.e., working memory, fluid intelligence, and receptive vocabulary and their early number competence (i.e., symbolic number skills on first grade math achievement (arithmetic, shape and space skills, and number line estimation assessed one year later. Latent regression models revealed that nonverbal number sense and working memory are central building blocks for developing early number competence in kindergarten and that early number competence is key for first grade math achievement. After controlling for early number competence, fluid intelligence significantly predicted arithmetic and number line estimation while receptive vocabulary significantly predicted shape and space skills. In sum we suggest that early math achievement draws on different constellations of number-specific and domain-general mechanisms.

Developmental screening in South Africa: comparing the national ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

parent completed screening tool, instead of a clinician administered .... velopment on the following areas, global/ cognitive, ex- ... needed for other services such as occupational therapy, ..... fy Developmental-Behavioral Problems in Their Chil-.

Global existence of a generalized solution for the radiative transfer equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golse, F.; Perthame, B.

1984-01-01

We prove global existence of a generalized solution of the radiative transfer equations, extending Mercier's result to the case of a layer with an initially cold area. Our Theorem relies on the results of Crandall and Ligett [fr

Blow-up boundary regimes for general quasilinear parabolic equations in multidimensional domains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shishkov, A E; Shchelkov, A G

1999-01-01

A new approach (not based on the techniques of barriers) to the study of asymptotic properties of the generalized solutions of parabolic initial boundary-value problems with finite-time blow-up of the boundary values is proposed. Precise conditions on the blow-up pattern are found that guarantee uniform localization of the solution for an arbitrary compactly supported initial function. The main result of the paper consists in obtaining precise sufficient conditions for the singular (or blow-up) set of an arbitrary solution to remain within the boundary of the domain

A general number-to-space mapping deficit in developmental dyscalculia.

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, S; Sury, D; Moeller, K; Rubinsten, O; Nuerk, H-C

2015-01-01

Previous research on developmental dyscalculia (DD) suggested that deficits in the number line estimation task are related to a failure to represent number magnitude linearly. This conclusion was derived from the observation of logarithmically shaped estimation patterns. However, recent research questioned this idea of an isomorphic relationship between estimation patterns and number magnitude representation. In the present study, we evaluated an alternative hypothesis: impairments in the number line estimation task are due to a general deficit in mapping numbers onto space. Adults with DD and a matched control group had to learn linear and non-linear layouts of the number line via feedback. Afterwards, we assessed their performance how well they learnt the new number-space mappings. We found irrespective of the layouts worse performance of adults with DD. Additionally, in case of the linear layout, we observed that their performance did not differ from controls near reference points, but that differences between groups increased as the distance to reference point increased. We conclude that worse performance of adults with DD in the number line task might be due a deficit in mapping numbers onto space which can be partly overcome relying on reference points. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Soil Response to Global Change: Soil Process Domains and Pedogenic Thresholds (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Chadwick, O.; Kramer, M. G.; Chorover, J.

2013-12-01

The capacity of soil to withstand perturbations, whether driven by climate, land use change, or spread of invasive species, depends on its chemical composition and physical state. The dynamic interplay between stable, well buffered soil process domains and thresholds in soil state and function is a strong determinant of soil response to forcing from global change. In terrestrial ecosystems, edaphic responses are often mediated by availability of water and its flux into and through soils. Water influences soil processes in several ways: it supports biological production, hence proton-donor, electron-donor and complexing-ligand production; it determines the advective removal of dissolution products, and it can promote anoxia that leads microorganisms to utilize alternative electron acceptors. As a consequence climate patterns strongly influence global distribution of soil, although within region variability is governed by other factors such as landscape age, parent material and human land use. By contrast, soil properties can vary greatly among climate regions, variation which is guided by the functioning of a suite of chemical processes that tend to maintain chemical status quo. This soil 'buffering' involves acid-base reactions as minerals weather and oxidation-reduction reactions that are driven by microbial respiration. At the planetary scale, soil pH provides a reasonable indicator of process domains and varies from about 3.5 to10, globally, although most soils lie between about 4.5 and 8.5. Those that are above 7.5 are strongly buffered by the carbonate system, those that are characterized by neutral pH (7.5-6) are buffered by release of non-hydrolyzing cations from primary minerals and colloid surfaces, and those that are buffered by hydrolytic aluminum on colloidal surfaces. Alkali and alkaline (with the exception of limestone parent material) soils are usually associated with arid and semiarid conditions, neutral pH soils with young soils in both dry and wet

On the relation between face and object recognition in developmental prosopagnosia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gerlach, Christian; Klargaard, Solja K.; Starrfelt, Randi

2016-01-01

There is an ongoing debate about whether face recognition and object recognition constitute separate domains. Clarification of this issue can have important theoretical implications as face recognition is often used as a prime example of domain-specificity in mind and brain. An important source...... of input to this debate comes from studies of individuals with developmental prosopagnosia, suggesting that face recognition can be selectively impaired. We put the selectivity hypothesis to test by assessing the performance of 10 individuals with developmental prosopagnosia on demanding tests of visual...... object processing involving both regular and degraded drawings. None of the individuals exhibited a clear dissociation between face and object recognition, and as a group they were significantly more affected by degradation of objects than control participants. Importantly, we also find positive...

Developmental neurotoxicity of Propylthiouracil in rats

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Marta Axelstad; Hansen, P.; Christiansen, S.

2007-01-01

early in pregnancy may cause adverse effects on the offspring. This has led to increased concern about thyroid hormone disrupting chemicals (TDCs) in our environment. We have studied how developmental exposure to the known antithyroid agent propylthiouracil (PTU) affects the development of rat pups...... behaviour and hearing function. This supports that exposure to TDC's in general may cause long-lasting developmental neurotoxicity....

Domain decomposition methods for the neutron diffusion problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guerin, P.; Baudron, A. M.; Lautard, J. J.

2010-01-01

The neutronic simulation of a nuclear reactor core is performed using the neutron transport equation, and leads to an eigenvalue problem in the steady-state case. Among the deterministic resolution methods, simplified transport (SPN) or diffusion approximations are often used. The MINOS solver developed at CEA Saclay uses a mixed dual finite element method for the resolution of these problems. and has shown his efficiency. In order to take into account the heterogeneities of the geometry, a very fine mesh is generally required, and leads to expensive calculations for industrial applications. In order to take advantage of parallel computers, and to reduce the computing time and the local memory requirement, we propose here two domain decomposition methods based on the MINOS solver. The first approach is a component mode synthesis method on overlapping sub-domains: several Eigenmodes solutions of a local problem on each sub-domain are taken as basis functions used for the resolution of the global problem on the whole domain. The second approach is an iterative method based on a non-overlapping domain decomposition with Robin interface conditions. At each iteration, we solve the problem on each sub-domain with the interface conditions given by the solutions on the adjacent sub-domains estimated at the previous iteration. Numerical results on parallel computers are presented for the diffusion model on realistic 2D and 3D cores. (authors)

Domain Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Bjørner, Dines

Before software can be designed we must know its requirements. Before requirements can be expressed we must understand the domain. So it follows, from our dogma, that we must first establish precise descriptions of domains; then, from such descriptions, “derive” at least domain and interface requirements; and from those and machine requirements design the software, or, more generally, the computing systems.

Salivary Alpha Amylase and Cortisol Levels in Children with Global Developmental Delay and Their Relation with the Expectation of Dental Care and Behavior during the Intervention

Science.gov (United States)

dos Santos, Marcio Jose Possari; Bernabe, Daniel Galera; Nakamune, Ana Claudia de Melo Stevanato; Perri, Silvia Helena Venturoli; de Aguiar, Sandra Maria Herondina Coelho Avila; de Oliveira, Sandra Helena Penha

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to analyze the alpha-amylase (sAA) and cortisol levels in children with Global developmental delay (GDD) before and after dental treatment and its association with the children's behavior during treatment. The morning salivary cortisol levels and activity of sAA of 33 children with GDD were evaluated before and after…

Global developmental delay in guanidionacetate methyltransferase deficiency : differences in formal testing and clinical observation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verbruggen, Krijn T.; Knijff, Wilma A.; Soorani-Lunsing, Roelineke J.; Sijens, Paul E.; Verhoeven, Nanda M.; Salomons, Gajja S.; Goorhuis-Brouwer, Siena M.; van Spronsen, Francjan J.

Guanidinoacetate N-methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency is a defect in the biosynthesis of creatine (Cr). So far, reports have not focused on the description of developmental abilities in this disorder. Here, we present the result of formal testing of developmental abilities in a GAMT-deficient

Cognitive behavioural group treatment for Chinese parents with children with developmental disabilities in Melbourne, Australia: an efficacy study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Fu Keung Daniel; Poon, Ada

2010-08-01

This study attempted to test the efficacy of a culturally attuned cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) group for Chinese parents with children with developmental disabilities at risk of developing mental health problems in Melbourne, Australia. It was hypothesized that the participants in the experimental group would have less parenting stress and fewer dysfunctional attitudes, rules, and values, and better mental health and quality of life than the participants in the control group post-test. A total of 58 participants were randomly assigned into CBT and waiting list control groups. While ANCOVAs were used to compare the differences in General Health Questionnaires-12 (GHQ-12), Parenting Stress Index- Parent Domain (PSI-PD), Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnnaire-18 (Q-LES-Q-18) and Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) between participants of the experiemental and control groups, effect size statistics were performed to measure the magnitude of changes in the above instruments at post treatment. After ten weeks of treatment, the participants in the CBT group showed significant improvement in GHQ-12, Parenting Stress Index (PSI)-Parent Domain and Q-LES-Q-18 scores, but not in DAS scores. The effect size statistics revealed large differences in GHQ-12, PSI-Parent Domain and Q-LES-Q-18 scores between the participants in the experimental and control groups at post-treatment. When a GHQ score of 4 or greater was used as the recommended cut-off score, about 89% and 10% of the participants in the experimental and control groups, respectively, were classified as not at-risk cases at post-treatment. The initial findings suggest that a culturally attuned CBT group may help Chinese parents with children with developmental disabilities to reduce their parenting stress and improve their general mental health and quality of life.

Developmental Idealism: The Cultural Foundations of World Development Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Thornton, Arland; Dorius, Shawn F.; Swindle, Jeffrey

2015-01-01

This paper extends theory and research concerning cultural models of development beyond family and demographic matters to a broad range of additional factors, including government, education, human rights, daily social conventions, and religion. Developmental idealism is a cultural model—a set of beliefs and values—that identifies the appropriate goals of development and the ends for achieving these goals. It includes beliefs about positive cause and effect relationships among such factors as economic growth, educational achievement, health, and political governance, as well as strong values regarding many attributes, including economic growth, education, small families, gender equality, and democratic governance. This cultural model has spread from its origins among the elites of northwest Europe to elites and ordinary people throughout the world. Developmental idealism has become so entrenched in local, national, and global social institutions that it has now achieved a taken-for-granted status among many national elites, academics, development practitioners, and ordinary people around the world. We argue that developmental idealism culture has been a fundamental force behind many cultural clashes within and between societies, and continues to be an important cause of much global social change. We suggest that developmental idealism should be included as a causal factor in theories of human behavior and social change. PMID:26457325

Attention for speaking: domain-general control from the anterior cingulate cortex in spoken word production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vitoria ePiai

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Accumulating evidence suggests that some degree of attentional control is required to regulate and monitor processes underlying speaking. Although progress has been made in delineating the neural substrates of the core language processes involved in speaking, substrates associated with regulatory and monitoring processes have remained relatively underspecified. We report the results of an fMRI study examining the neural substrates related to performance in three attention-demanding tasks varying in the amount of linguistic processing: vocal picture naming while ignoring distractors (picture-word interference, PWI; vocal colour naming while ignoring distractors (Stroop; and manual object discrimination while ignoring spatial position (Simon task. All three tasks had congruent and incongruent stimuli, while PWI and Stroop also had neutral stimuli. Analyses focusing on common activation across tasks identified a portion of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex that was active in incongruent trials for all three tasks, suggesting that this region subserves a domain-general attentional control function. In the language tasks, this area showed increased activity for incongruent relative to congruent stimuli, consistent with the involvement of domain-general mechanisms of attentional control in word production. The two language tasks also showed activity in anterior-superior temporal gyrus. Activity increased for neutral PWI stimuli (picture and word did not share the same semantic category relative to incongruent (categorically related and congruent stimuli. This finding is consistent with the involvement of language-specific areas in word production, possibly related to retrieval of lexical-semantic information from memory. The current results thus suggest that in addition to engaging language-specific areas for core linguistic processes, speaking also engages the anterior cingulate cortex, a region that is likely implementing domain-general

Developmental Change and Time-Specific Variation in Global and Specific Aspects of Self-Concept in Adolescence and Association with Depressive Symptoms

Science.gov (United States)

Kuzucu, Yasar; Bontempo, Daniel E.; Hofer, Scott M.; Stallings, Michael C.; Piccinin, Andrea M.

2014-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that adolescents make differential self-evaluations in multiple domains that include physical appearance, academic competence, and peer acceptance. We report growth curve analyses over a 7-year period from age 9 to 16 on the six domains of the Harter Self-Perception Profile for Children. In general, we find…

Is there a domain-general cognitive structuring system? Evidence from structural priming across music, math, action descriptions, and language.

Science.gov (United States)

Van de Cavey, Joris; Hartsuiker, Robert J

2016-01-01

Cognitive processing in many domains (e.g., sentence comprehension, music listening, and math solving) requires sequential information to be organized into an integrational structure. There appears to be some overlap in integrational processing across domains, as shown by cross-domain interference effects when for example linguistic and musical stimuli are jointly presented (Koelsch, Gunter, Wittfoth, & Sammler, 2005; Slevc, Rosenberg, & Patel, 2009). These findings support theories of overlapping resources for integrational processing across domains (cfr. SSIRH Patel, 2003; SWM, Kljajevic, 2010). However, there are some limitations to the studies mentioned above, such as the frequent use of unnaturalistic integrational difficulties. In recent years, the idea has risen that evidence for domain-generality in structural processing might also be yielded though priming paradigms (cfr. Scheepers, 2003). The rationale behind this is that integrational processing across domains regularly requires the processing of dependencies across short or long distances in the sequence, involving respectively less or more syntactic working memory resources (cfr. SWM, Kljajevic, 2010), and such processing decisions might persist over time. However, whereas recent studies have shown suggestive priming of integrational structure between language and arithmetics (though often dependent on arithmetic performance, cfr. Scheepers et al., 2011; Scheepers & Sturt, 2014), it remains to be investigated to what extent we can also find evidence for priming in other domains, such as music and action (cfr. SWM, Kljajevic, 2010). Experiment 1a showed structural priming from the processing of musical sequences onto the position in the sentence structure (early or late) to which a relative clause was attached in subsequent sentence completion. Importantly, Experiment 1b showed that a similar structural manipulation based on non-hierarchically ordered color sequences did not yield any priming effect

The Comet Cometh: Evolving Developmental Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaeger, Johannes; Laubichler, Manfred; Callebaut, Werner

In a recent opinion piece, Denis Duboule has claimed that the increasing shift towards systems biology is driving evolutionary and developmental biology apart, and that a true reunification of these two disciplines within the framework of evolutionary developmental biology (EvoDevo) may easily take another 100 years. He identifies methodological, epistemological, and social differences as causes for this supposed separation. Our article provides a contrasting view. We argue that Duboule's prediction is based on a one-sided understanding of systems biology as a science that is only interested in functional, not evolutionary, aspects of biological processes. Instead, we propose a research program for an evolutionary systems biology, which is based on local exploration of the configuration space in evolving developmental systems. We call this approach-which is based on reverse engineering, simulation, and mathematical analysis-the natural history of configuration space. We discuss a number of illustrative examples that demonstrate the past success of local exploration, as opposed to global mapping, in different biological contexts. We argue that this pragmatic mode of inquiry can be extended and applied to the mathematical analysis of the developmental repertoire and evolutionary potential of evolving developmental mechanisms and that evolutionary systems biology so conceived provides a pragmatic epistemological framework for the EvoDevo synthesis.

Delayed processing of global shape in developmental prosopagnosia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gerlach, Christian; Klargaard, Solja K.; Starrfelt, Randi

2017-01-01

and fragmented objects. In contrast, their visual short-term memory capacity, visual processing speed, efficiency of top-down selectivity, and spatial allocation of attentional resources were within the normal range. This suggests that the reduced global bias effect found in the DP-sample reflects a perceptual...... 10 subjects with DP and 20 matched controls on Navon's paradigm with compound letters. We also assessed visual attention and object recognition in both groups. The DP-group exhibited a reduced global precedence effect compared with the control group. They were also impaired recognizing silhouette...... rather than an attentional deficit. To examine whether the reduction in the global precedence effect was systematically related to the face recognition impairment of the DPs we examined the correlation between the magnitude of the global precedence effect and performance on the Cambridge Face Memory Test...

Global Prevalence of Autism and Other Pervasive Developmental Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Elsabbagh, Mayada; Divan, Gauri; Koh, Yun-Joo; Kim, Young Shin; Kauchali, Shuaib; Marcín, Carlos; Montiel-Nava, Cecilia; Patel, Vikram; Paula, Cristiane S; Wang, Chongying; Yasamy, Mohammad Taghi; Fombonne, Eric

2012-01-01

We provide a systematic review of epidemiological surveys of autistic disorder and pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) worldwide. A secondary aim was to consider the possible impact of geographic, cultural/ethnic, and socioeconomic factors on prevalence estimates and on clinical presentation of PDD. Based on the evidence reviewed, the median of prevalence estimates of autism spectrum disorders was 62/10 000. While existing estimates are variable, the evidence reviewed does not support differences in PDD prevalence by geographic region nor of a strong impact of ethnic/cultural or socioeconomic factors. However, power to detect such effects is seriously limited in existing data sets, particularly in low-income countries. While it is clear that prevalence estimates have increased over time and these vary in different neighboring and distant regions, these findings most likely represent broadening of the diagnostic concets, diagnostic switching from other developmental disabilities to PDD, service availability, and awareness of autistic spectrum disorders in both the lay and professional public. The lack of evidence from the majority of the world's population suggests a critical need for further research and capacity building in low- and middle-income countries. Autism Res 2012, 5: 160–179. © 2012 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:22495912

Generalized Robin Boundary Conditions, Robin-to-Dirichlet Maps, and Krein-Type Resolvent Formulas for Schr\\"odinger Operators on Bounded Lipschitz Domains

OpenAIRE

Gesztesy, Fritz; Mitrea, Marius

2008-01-01

We study generalized Robin boundary conditions, Robin-to-Dirichlet maps, and Krein-type resolvent formulas for Schr\\"odinger operators on bounded Lipschitz domains in $\\bbR^n$, $n\\ge 2$. We also discuss the case of bounded $C^{1,r}$-domains, $(1/2)

The developmental trajectory of children's auditory and visual statistical learning abilities: modality-based differences in the effect of age.

Science.gov (United States)

Raviv, Limor; Arnon, Inbal

2017-09-12

Infants, children and adults are capable of extracting recurring patterns from their environment through statistical learning (SL), an implicit learning mechanism that is considered to have an important role in language acquisition. Research over the past 20 years has shown that SL is present from very early infancy and found in a variety of tasks and across modalities (e.g., auditory, visual), raising questions on the domain generality of SL. However, while SL is well established for infants and adults, only little is known about its developmental trajectory during childhood, leaving two important questions unanswered: (1) Is SL an early-maturing capacity that is fully developed in infancy, or does it improve with age like other cognitive capacities (e.g., memory)? and (2) Will SL have similar developmental trajectories across modalities? Only few studies have looked at SL across development, with conflicting results: some find age-related improvements while others do not. Importantly, no study to date has examined auditory SL across childhood, nor compared it to visual SL to see if there are modality-based differences in the developmental trajectory of SL abilities. We addressed these issues by conducting a large-scale study of children's performance on matching auditory and visual SL tasks across a wide age range (5-12y). Results show modality-based differences in the development of SL abilities: while children's learning in the visual domain improved with age, learning in the auditory domain did not change in the tested age range. We examine these findings in light of previous studies and discuss their implications for modality-based differences in SL and for the role of auditory SL in language acquisition. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kg35hoF0pw. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A simple observer of the generalized Chen chaotic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, Y.-J.

2009-01-01

In this paper, the generalized Chen chaotic system is considered and the state observation problem of such a system is investigated. Based on the time-domain approach, a simple observer for the generalized Chen chaotic system is proposed to guarantee the global exponential stability of the resulting error system. Furthermore, the guaranteed exponential convergence rate can be correctly estimated. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the use of the main result.

Developmental Methodology as a Context for Interdisciplinary Dialogue in Developmental Science

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Card, Noel A.

2014-01-01

In this comment, I first highlight the contributions of Robinson-Cimpian, Lubienski, Ganley, and Copur-Gencturk (2014) in particular and a more interdisciplinary approach in general for the subdiscipline of developmental psychology. Second, I identify some historic methodological foci of psychology and encourage Robinson-Cimpian et al. to consider…

Developmental Change and Time-Specific Variation in Global and Specific Aspects of Self-Concept in Adolescence and Association with Depressive Symptoms

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Kuzucu, Yasar; Bontempo, Daniel E.; Hofer, Scott M.; Stallings, Michael C.; Piccinin, Andrea M.

2014-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that adolescents make differential self-evaluations in multiple domains that include physical appearance, academic competence, and peer acceptance. We report growth curve analyses over a seven year period from age 9 to age 16 on the six domains of the Harter Self-Perception Profile for Children. In general, we find little change in self-concept, on average, but do find substantial individual differences in level, rate of change, and time-specific variation in these self- evaluations. The results suggest that sex differences and adoptive status were related to only certain aspects of the participants’ self-concept. Depressive symptoms were found to have significant effects on individual differences in rate of change and on time-specific variation in general self-concept, as well as on some of the specific domains of self-concept. PMID:25143664

PREVALENCE OF REFRACTIVE ERROR, STRABISMUS AND AMBLYOPIA AMONG CHILDREN WITH NORMAL DEVELOPMENT OR GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY/INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY ATTENDING OPHTHALMOLOGY OPD AT KLES HOSPITAL, BELAGAVI- A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

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Smitha K. S

2017-04-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND Global developmental delay/intellectual disability are on a rise in children in the present time. Ocular and visual anomalies are frequently associated with it of which refractive errors are the most frequent. This if goes unnoticed leads to strabismus and amblyopia. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study aims to assess the prevalence of refractive error, strabismus and amblyopia among children with normal development or global developmental delay/intellectual disability attending ophthalmology OPD at KLES Hospital, Belagavi. Case records of all 200 new patients less than or equal to 12 years of age group who attended KLES, Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital between January 2015 and December 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS The male:female ratio was 1.22:1. Out of the total evaluated 200 cases, 130 cases were with normal development and 70 with GDD/ID. Refractive errors were 85%, whereas the cases of amblyopia was 45.50% and strabismus 39.50%. Amblyopia with refractive error having GDD/ID was stastically significant as compared to amblyopia with refractive error having normal development (p=0.001. CONCLUSION Refractive error was the most common ocular disorder seen. Refractive error with amblyopia is more in children with GDD/ID as compared to normal children. Owing to the high percentage of visual anomalies, ophthalmological referral becomes essential in children with developmental anomalies.

Changes in children's self-competence and values: gender and domain differences across grades one through twelve.

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Jacobs, Janis E; Lanza, Stephanie; Osgood, D Wayne; Eccles, Jacquelynne S; Wigfield, Allan

2002-01-01

This study extended previous research on changes in children's self-beliefs by documenting domain-specific growth trajectories for 761 children across grades 1 through 12 in a longitudinal study of perceptions of self-competence and task values. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to (1) describe changes in beliefs across childhood and adolescence within the domains of mathematics, language arts, and sports; (2) examine the impact of changes in competence beliefs on changes in values over time in the same domains; and (3) describe gender differences in mean levels and trajectories of change in competence beliefs and values. The most striking finding across all domains was that self-perceptions of competence and subjective task values declined as children got older, although the extent and rate of decline varied across domains. For example, in language arts, competence beliefs declined rapidly during the elementary school years, but then leveled off or increased to some extent; whereas the decline in self-competence beliefs in sports accelerated during the high school years. Significant gender differences in beliefs were found in most domains; however, the gender differences in developmental trajectories appeared to be domain specific rather than global. Importantly, the gender differences between boys and girls did not systematically increase with age, as predicted by some socialization perspectives. Adding competence beliefs as an explanatory variable to the model for task values revealed that changes in competence beliefs accounted for much of the age-related decline in task values. In addition, competence beliefs accounted for most of the gender differences in task values for language arts and sports.

The two forms of capitalism: developmentalism and economic liberalism

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LUIZ CARLOS BRESSER-PEREIRA

Full Text Available ABSTRACT This paper argues that the state and the market are the main institutions regulating capitalism, and, correspondingly, that the form of the economic and political coordination of capitalism will be either developmental or liberal. It defines the developmental state, relates it to the formation of a developmental class coalition, and notes that capitalism was born developmental in its mercantilist phase, turned liberal in the nineteenth century, and, after 1929, became once again developmental, but, now, democratic and progressive. All industrial and capitalist revolutions took place within the framework of developmentalism, whereby the state coordinates the non-competitive sector of the economy and the five macroeconomic prices (which the market is unable to make “right”, while the market coordinates the competitive sector. In the 1970s, a crisis opened the way for a short-lived and reactionary form of capitalism, neoliberalism or rentier-financier capitalism. Since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, the neoliberal hegemony has come to an end, and we are now experiencing a period of transition.

Family Life and Developmental Idealism in Yazd, Iran

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Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi

2012-03-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND This paper is motivated by the theory that developmental idealism has been disseminated globally and has become an international force for family and demographic change. Developmental idealism is a set of cultural beliefs and values about development and how development relates to family and demographic behavior. It holds that modern societies are causal forces producing modern families, that modern families help to produce modern societies, and that modern family change is to be expected. OBJECTIVE We examine the extent to which developmental idealism has been disseminated in Iran. We also investigate predictors of the dissemination of developmental idealism. METHODS We use survey data collected in 2007 from a sample of women in Yazd, a city in Iran. We examine the distribution of developmental idealism in the sample and the multivariate predictors of developmental idealism. RESULTS We find considerable support for the expectation that many elements of developmental idealism have been widely disseminated. Statistically significant majorities associate development with particular family attributes, believe that development causes change in families, believe that fertility reductions and age-at-marriage increases help foster development, and perceive family trends in Iran headed toward modernity. As predicted, parental education, respondent education, and income affect adherence to developmental idealism. CONCLUSIONS Developmental idealism has been widely disseminated in Yazd, Iran and is related to social and demographic factors in predicted ways. COMMENTS Although our data come from only one city, we expect that developmental idealism has been widely distributed in Iran, with important implications for family and demographic behavior.

Letter and Colour Matching Tasks: Parametric Measures of Developmental Working Memory Capacity

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Tamara L. Powell

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We investigated the mediating role of interference in developmental assessments of working memory (WM capacity across childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. One hundred and forty-two participants completed two versions of visuospatial (colour matching task, CMT and verbal (letter matching task, LMT WM tasks, which systematically varied cognitive load in a high and low interference condition. Results showed similar developmental trajectories across high interference contexts (CMT- and LMT-Complex and divergent developmental growth patterns across low interference contexts (CMT- and LMT-Simple. Performance on tasks requiring greater cognitive control was in closer agreement with developmental predictions relative to simple recall guided tasks that rely solely on the storage components of WM. These findings suggest that developmental WM capacity, as measured by the CMT and LMT paradigms, can be better quantified using high interference contexts, in both content domains, and demonstrate steady increases in WM through to mid-adolescence.

Developmental coordination disorder, generalized self-efficacy toward physical activity, and participation in organized and free play activities.

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Cairney, John; Hay, John A; Faught, Brent E; Wade, Terrance J; Corna, Laurie; Flouris, Andreas

2005-10-01

To test a theoretical model linking developmental coordination disorder (DCD) to reduced physical activity (PA) through the mediating influence of generalized self-efficacy regarding PA. This was a cross-sectional investigation of students in grades 4 through 8 from 5 elementary schools in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada (n=590). Motor proficiency was evaluated using the short-form Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. Generalized self-efficacy was assessed using the Children's Self-Perceptions of Adequacy in and Predilection for Physical Activity scale, and PA levels were evaluated using a 61-item Participation Questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to test the influence of generalized self-efficacy on the relationship between DCD and PA. In this sample, 7.5% (n=44) of the children met the requirements for probable DCD. The effect of DCD on PA was mediated by generalized self-efficacy. In this model, 28% of the variance in children's PA was predicted by generalized self-efficacy and DCD. Our results suggest that children with DCD are less likely to be physically active and that generalized self-efficacy can account for a considerable proportion of this relationship. The implications for appropriate interventions to increase PA among children with DCD are discussed.

Data describing the solution structure of the WW3* domain from human Nedd4-1

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Vineet Panwalkar

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The third WW domain (WW3* of human Nedd4-1 (Neuronal precursor cell expressed developmentally down-regulated gene 4-1 interacts with the poly-proline (PY motifs of the human epithelial Na+ channel (hENaC subunits at micromolar affinity. This data supplements the article (Panwalkar et al., 2015 [1]. We describe the NMR experiments used to solve the solution structure of the WW3* domain. We also present NOE network data for defining the rotameric state of side chains of peptide binding residues, and complement this data with χ1 dihedral angles derived from 3J couplings and molecular dynamics simulations data. Keywords: Chemical shift, Neuronal precursor cell expressed developmentally down-regulated gene 4-1, NMR, NOE distance restraints, WW domain

Developmental skills of 36-60-month-old children in Isfahan daycare centers in 2013.

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Ghazavi, Zohreh; Abdeyazdan, Zahra; Shiravi, Elham; Talakob, Sedigheh

2015-01-01

Assessment of developmental skills is one of the most essential components of children's health evaluation. Since several pubertal disorders are caused by parental negligence in diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of childhood problems, failure to make a timely diagnosis of these problems could have adverse effects on the health of children in future. This study was conducted to determine the developmental skills of 36-60-month-old children in Isfahan. In this cross-sectional study, 196 children, aged 36-60 months, were recruited through random cluster sampling. "Ages and Stages" questionnaire was filled for each subject by their parents (father, mother, or both), and the frequency of developmental delay was determined based on cut-off points. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics using SPSS 20.0. About 52.6% of the children were male. Mean age of the children was 50.71 (SD = 8.16) months. The abnormal findings were in the five domains of communication (1.5%), gross motor (3.1%), fine motor (7.7%), problem solving (7.7%) and personal-social (2%). The results suggest that some of the children had scores below or equal to the cut-off points and needed more evaluation by a professional person. The domains in which the children had problems were fine motor, problem solving, and gross motor. Therefore, health staff should pay more attention to assessment of these domains and parents should be trained to develop their children's skills in these domains.

Development of magnitude processing in children with developmental dyscalculia: Space, time and number

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Kenny eSkagerlund

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Developmental dyscalculia (DD is a learning disorder associated with impairments in a preverbal non-symbolic approximate number system (ANS pertaining to areas in and around the intraparietal sulcus (IPS. The current study sought to enhance our understanding of the developmental trajectory of the ANS and symbolic number processing skills, thereby getting insight into whether a deficit in the ANS precedes or is preceded by impaired symbolic and exact number processing. Recent work has also suggested that humans are endowed with a shared magnitude system (beyond the number domain in the brain. We therefore investigated whether children with DD demonstrated a general magnitude deficit, stemming from the proposed magnitude system, rather than a specific one limited to numerical quantity. Fourth graders with DD were compared to age-matched controls and a group of ability-matched second graders, on a range of magnitude processing tasks pertaining to space, time, and number. Children with DD displayed difficulties across all magnitude dimensions compared to age-matched peers and showed impaired ANS acuity compared to the younger, ability-matched control group, while exhibiting intact symbolic number processing. We conclude that (1 children with DD suffer from a general magnitude-processing deficit, (2 a shared magnitude system likely exists, and (3 a symbolic number-processing deficit in DD tends to be preceded by an ANS deficit.

Development of magnitude processing in children with developmental dyscalculia: space, time, and number.

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Skagerlund, Kenny; Träff, Ulf

2014-01-01

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a learning disorder associated with impairments in a preverbal non-symbolic approximate number system (ANS) pertaining to areas in and around the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). The current study sought to enhance our understanding of the developmental trajectory of the ANS and symbolic number processing skills, thereby getting insight into whether a deficit in the ANS precedes or is preceded by impaired symbolic and exact number processing. Recent work has also suggested that humans are endowed with a shared magnitude system (beyond the number domain) in the brain. We therefore investigated whether children with DD demonstrated a general magnitude deficit, stemming from the proposed magnitude system, rather than a specific one limited to numerical quantity. Fourth graders with DD were compared to age-matched controls and a group of ability-matched second graders, on a range of magnitude processing tasks pertaining to space, time, and number. Children with DD displayed difficulties across all magnitude dimensions compared to age-matched peers and showed impaired ANS acuity compared to the younger, ability-matched control group, while exhibiting intact symbolic number processing. We conclude that (1) children with DD suffer from a general magnitude-processing deficit, (2) a shared magnitude system likely exists, and (3) a symbolic number-processing deficit in DD tends to be preceded by an ANS deficit.

A Framework for Incorporating General Domain Knowledge into Latent Dirichlet Allocation using First-Order Logic

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andrzejewski, D; Zhu, X; Craven, M; Recht, B

2011-01-18

Topic models have been used successfully for a variety of problems, often in the form of application-specific extensions of the basic Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model. Because deriving these new models in order to encode domain knowledge can be difficult and time-consuming, we propose the Fold-all model, which allows the user to specify general domain knowledge in First-Order Logic (FOL). However, combining topic modeling with FOL can result in inference problems beyond the capabilities of existing techniques. We have therefore developed a scalable inference technique using stochastic gradient descent which may also be useful to the Markov Logic Network (MLN) research community. Experiments demonstrate the expressive power of Fold-all, as well as the scalability of our proposed inference method.

[Neuropsychomotor developmental delay: conceptual map, term definitions, uses and limitations].

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Dornelas, Lílian de Fátima; Duarte, Neuza Maria de Castro; Magalhães, Lívia de Castro

2015-01-01

To retrieve the origin of the term neuropsychomotor developmental delay" (NPMD), its conceptual evolution over time, and to build a conceptual map based on literature review. A literature search was performed in the SciELO Brazil, Web of Science, Science Direct, OneFile (GALE), Pubmed (Medline), Whiley Online, and Springer databases, from January of 1940 to January of 2013, using the following keywords NPMD delay, NPMD retardation, developmental delay, and global developmental delay. A total of 71 articles were selected, which were used to build the conceptual map of the term. Of the 71 references, 55 were international and 16 national. The terms developmental delay and global developmental delay were the most frequently used in the international literature and, in Brazil, delayed NPMD was the most often used. The term developmental delay emerged in the mid 1940s, gaining momentum in the 1990 s. In Brazil, the term delayed NPMD started to be used in the 1980s, and has been frequently cited and published in the literature. Delayed development was a characteristic of 13 morbidities described in 23 references. Regarding the type of use, 19 references were found, with seven forms of use. Among the references, 34 had definitions of the term, and 16 different concepts were identified. Developmental delay is addressed in the international and national literature under different names, various applications, and heterogeneous concepts. Internationally, ways to improve communication between professionals have been indicated, with standardized definition of the term and use in very specific situations up to the fifth year of life, which was not found in Brazilian publications. Copyright © 2014 Associação de Pediatria de São Paulo. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Treatment of Epilepsy in Children with Developmental Disabilities

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Depositario-Cabacar, Dewi Frances T.; Zelleke, Tesfaye-Getaneh

2010-01-01

Children with developmental disabilities are at increased risk for epilepsy with a prevalence rate higher than the general population. Some of the more common developmental disorders in childhood and the features of epilepsy in these conditions are discussed. Specifically, autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and attention deficit and…

An exponential observer for the generalized Rossler chaotic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, Y.-J.

2009-01-01

In this paper, the generalized Rossler chaotic system is considered and the state observation problem of such a system is investigated. Based on the time-domain approach, a state observer for the generalized Rossler chaotic system is developed to guarantee the global exponential stability of the resulting error system. Moreover, the guaranteed exponential convergence rate can be arbitrarily pre-specified. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the obtained result.

Adaptive developmental delay in Chagas disease vectors: an evolutionary ecology approach.

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Frédéric Menu

2010-05-01

Full Text Available The developmental time of vector insects is important in population dynamics, evolutionary biology, epidemiology and in their responses to global climatic change. In the triatomines (Triatominae, Reduviidae, vectors of Chagas disease, evolutionary ecology concepts, which may allow for a better understanding of their biology, have not been applied. Despite delay in the molting in some individuals observed in triatomines, no effort was made to explain this variability.We applied four methods: (1 an e-mail survey sent to 30 researchers with experience in triatomines, (2 a statistical description of the developmental time of eleven triatomine species, (3 a relationship between development time pattern and climatic inter-annual variability, (4 a mathematical optimization model of evolution of developmental delay (diapause.85.6% of responses informed on prolonged developmental times in 5(th instar nymphs, with 20 species identified with remarkable developmental delays. The developmental time analysis showed some degree of bi-modal pattern of the development time of the 5(th instars in nine out of eleven species but no trend between development time pattern and climatic inter-annual variability was observed. Our optimization model predicts that the developmental delays could be due to an adaptive risk-spreading diapause strategy, only if survival throughout the diapause period and the probability of random occurrence of "bad" environmental conditions are sufficiently high.Developmental delay may not be a simple non-adaptive phenotypic plasticity in development time, and could be a form of adaptive diapause associated to a physiological mechanism related to the postponement of the initiation of reproduction, as an adaptation to environmental stochasticity through a spreading of risk (bet-hedging strategy. We identify a series of parameters that can be measured in the field and laboratory to test this hypothesis. The importance of these findings is

Individual Differences in Developmental Change: Quantifying the Amplitude and Heterogeneity in Cognitive Change across Old Age

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Nathalie Mella

2018-02-01

Full Text Available It is well known that cognitive decline in older adults is of smaller amplitude in longitudinal than in cross-sectional studies. Yet, the measure of interest rests generally with aggregated group data. A focus on individual developmental trajectories is rare, mainly because it is difficult to assess intraindividual change reliably. Individual differences in developmental trajectories may differ quantitatively (e.g., larger or smaller decline or qualitatively (e.g., decline vs improvement, as well as in the degree of heterogeneity of change across different cognitive domains or different tasks. The present paper aims at exploring, within the Geneva Variability Study, individual change across several cognitive domains in 92 older adults (aged 59–89 years at baseline over a maximum of seven years and a half. Two novel, complementary methods were used to explore change in cognitive performance while remaining entirely at the intra-individual level. A bootstrap based confidence interval was estimated, for each participant and for each experimental condition, making it possible to define three patterns: stability, increase or decrease in performance. Within-person ANOVAs were also conducted for each individual on all the tasks. Those two methods allowed quantifying the direction, the amplitude and the heterogeneity of change for each individual. Results show that trajectories differed widely among individuals and that decline is far from being the rule.

The Contributions of Domain-General and Numerical Factors to Third-Grade Arithmetic Skills and Mathematical Learning Disability

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Cowan, Richard; Powell, Daisy

2014-01-01

Explanations of the marked individual differences in elementary school mathematical achievement and mathematical learning disability (MLD or dyscalculia) have involved domain-general factors (working memory, reasoning, processing speed, and oral language) and numerical factors that include single-digit processing efficiency and multidigit skills…

Developmental phenotypic plasticity helps bridge stochastic weather events associated with climate change.

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Burggren, Warren

2018-05-10

The slow, inexorable rise in annual average global temperatures and acidification of the oceans are often advanced as consequences of global change. However, many environmental changes, especially those involving weather (as opposed to climate), are often stochastic, variable and extreme, particularly in temperate terrestrial or freshwater habitats. Moreover, few studies of animal and plant phenotypic plasticity employ realistic (i.e. short-term, stochastic) environmental change in their protocols. Here, I posit that the frequently abrupt environmental changes (days, weeks, months) accompanying much longer-term general climate change (e.g. global warming over decades or centuries) require consideration of the true nature of environmental change (as opposed to statistical means) coupled with an expansion of focus to consider developmental phenotypic plasticity. Such plasticity can be in multiple forms - obligatory/facultative, beneficial/deleterious - depending upon the degree and rate of environmental variability at specific points in organismal development. Essentially, adult phenotypic plasticity, as important as it is, will be irrelevant if developing offspring lack sufficient plasticity to create modified phenotypes necessary for survival. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Global synchronization of general delayed complex networks with stochastic disturbances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tu Li-Lan

2011-01-01

In this paper, global synchronization of general delayed complex networks with stochastic disturbances, which is a zero-mean real scalar Wiener process, is investigated. The networks under consideration are continuous-time networks with time-varying delay. Based on the stochastic Lyapunov stability theory, Ito's differential rule and the linear matrix inequality (LMI) optimization technique, several delay-dependent synchronous criteria are established, which guarantee the asymptotical mean-square synchronization of drive networks and response networks with stochastic disturbances. The criteria are expressed in terms of LMI, which can be easily solved using the Matlab LMI Control Toolbox. Finally, two examples show the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed synchronous conditions. (general)

Time-domain Hydroelasticity Theory of Ships Responding to Waves

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xia, Jinzhu; Wang, Zhaohui

1997-01-01

free surface flow. The general interface boundary condition is used in the mathematical formulation of the fluid motion around the flexible structure. The general time-domain theory is simplified to a slender-body theory for the analysis of wave-induced global responses of monohull ships. The structure...... is represented by a non-uniform beam, while the generalized hydrodynamic coefficients can be obtained from two-dimensional potential flow theory. The linear slender body theory is generalized to treat the non-linear loading effects of rigid motion and structural response of ships travelling in rough seas....... The non-linear hydrostatic restoring force and hydrodynamic momentum action are considered. A numerical solution is presented for the slender body theory. Numerical examples are given for two ship cases with different geometry features, a warship hull and the S175 containership with two different bow...

A simple observer design of the generalized Lorenz chaotic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, Y.-J.

2010-01-01

In this Letter, the generalized Lorenz chaotic system is considered and the state observation problem of such a system is investigated. Based on the time-domain approach, a simple observer for the generalized Lorenz chaotic system is developed to guarantee the global exponential stability of the resulting error system. Moreover, the guaranteed exponential convergence rate can be correctly estimated. Finally, a numerical example is given to show the effectiveness of the obtained result.

Mutations of PTPN23 in developmental and epileptic encephalopathy

KAUST Repository

Sowada, Nadine; Hashem, Mais Omar; Yilmaz, Rü stem; Hamad, Muddathir; Kakar, Naseebullah; Thiele, Holger; Arold, Stefan T.; Bode, Harald; Alkuraya, Fowzan S.; Borck, Guntram

2017-01-01

-resistant epilepsy, severe and global developmental delay, microcephaly, and sometimes premature death. PTPN23 encodes a tyrosine phosphatase with strong brain expression, and its knockout in mouse is embryonically lethal. Structural modeling supports a deleterious

General purpose graphics-processing-unit implementation of cosmological domain wall network evolution.

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Correia, J R C C C; Martins, C J A P

2017-10-01

Topological defects unavoidably form at symmetry breaking phase transitions in the early universe. To probe the parameter space of theoretical models and set tighter experimental constraints (exploiting the recent advances in astrophysical observations), one requires more and more demanding simulations, and therefore more hardware resources and computation time. Improving the speed and efficiency of existing codes is essential. Here we present a general purpose graphics-processing-unit implementation of the canonical Press-Ryden-Spergel algorithm for the evolution of cosmological domain wall networks. This is ported to the Open Computing Language standard, and as a consequence significant speedups are achieved both in two-dimensional (2D) and 3D simulations.

General purpose graphics-processing-unit implementation of cosmological domain wall network evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Correia, J. R. C. C. C.; Martins, C. J. A. P.

2017-10-01

Topological defects unavoidably form at symmetry breaking phase transitions in the early universe. To probe the parameter space of theoretical models and set tighter experimental constraints (exploiting the recent advances in astrophysical observations), one requires more and more demanding simulations, and therefore more hardware resources and computation time. Improving the speed and efficiency of existing codes is essential. Here we present a general purpose graphics-processing-unit implementation of the canonical Press-Ryden-Spergel algorithm for the evolution of cosmological domain wall networks. This is ported to the Open Computing Language standard, and as a consequence significant speedups are achieved both in two-dimensional (2D) and 3D simulations.

Developmental changes in ERP responses to spatial frequencies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Boomen, Carlijn; Jonkman, Lisa M; Jaspers-Vlamings, Petra H J M; Cousijn, Janna; Kemner, Chantal

2015-01-01

Social interaction starts with perception of other persons. One of the first steps in perception is processing of basic information such as spatial frequencies (SF), which represent details and global information. However, although behavioural perception of SF is well investigated, the developmental

Can rational models be good accounts of developmental change? The case of language development at two time scales.

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Dawson, Colin R; Gerken, LouAnn

2012-01-01

Rational models of human perception and cognition have allowed researchers new ways to look at learning and the ability to make inferences from data. But how good are such models at accounting for developmental change? In this chapter, we address this question in the domain of language development, focusing on the speed with which developmental change takes place, and classifying different types of language development as either fast or slow. From the pattern of fast and slow development observed, we hypothesize that rational learning processes are generally well suited for handling fast processes over small amounts of input data. In contrast, we suggest that associative learning processes are generally better suited to slow development, in which learners accumulate information about what is typical of their language over time. Finally, although one system may be dominant for a particular component of language learning, we speculate that both systems frequently interact, with the associative system providing a source of emergent hypotheses to be evaluated by the rational system and the rational system serving to highlight which aspects of the learner's input need to be processed in greater depth by the associative system.

A reflection on African developmental predicament | Nweke ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Among several issues surrounding scholarly and political discussions about Africa is that of the continent‟s development. Despite the claims that it is the cradle of civilization, Africa, at the moment, remains a developing nation in the global developmental ranking. Efforts to lift Africa from the shackles have included, among ...

General general game AI

OpenAIRE

Togelius, Julian; Yannakakis, Georgios N.; 2016 IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games (CIG)

2016-01-01

Arguably the grand goal of artificial intelligence research is to produce machines with general intelligence: the capacity to solve multiple problems, not just one. Artificial intelligence (AI) has investigated the general intelligence capacity of machines within the domain of games more than any other domain given the ideal properties of games for that purpose: controlled yet interesting and computationally hard problems. This line of research, however, has so far focuse...

The Effects of Life Domains, Constraints, and Motivations on Academic Dishonesty: A Partial Test and Extension of Agnew's General Theory.

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Cochran, John K

2017-08-01

Recently, Robert Agnew introduced a new general theory of crime and delinquency in which he attempted to corral the vast array of theoretical "causes" of criminal conduct into a more parsimonious statement organized into one of five life domains: self, family, peers, school, and work as well as constraints against crime and motivation for it. These domains are depicted as the source of constraints and motivations and whose effects are, in part, mediated by these constraints and motivations. Based on self-report data on academic dishonesty from a sample of college students, the present study attempts to test this general theory. While several of the life domain variables had significant effects of cheating in the baseline model, all of these effects were fully mediated by constraints and motivations. In the final model, academic dishonesty was observed to be most significantly affected by the perceived severity of formal sanction threats, the number of credit hours enrolled, the frequency of skipping classes, and pressure from friends.

Developmental perspectives on personality: implications for ecological and evolutionary studies of individual differences.

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Stamps, Judy A; Groothuis, Ton G G

2010-12-27

Developmental processes can have major impacts on the correlations in behaviour across contexts (contextual generality) and across time (temporal consistency) that are the hallmarks of animal personality. Personality can and does change: at any given age or life stage it is contingent upon a wide range of experiential factors that occurred earlier in life, from prior to conception through adulthood. We show how developmental reaction norms that describe the effects of prior experience on a given behaviour can be used to determine whether the effects of a given experience at a given age will affect contextual generality at a later age, and to illustrate how variation within individuals in developmental plasticity leads to variation in contextual generality across individuals as a function of experience. We also show why niche-picking and niche-construction, behavioural processes which allow individuals to affect their own developmental environment, can affect the contextual generality and the temporal consistency of personality. We conclude by discussing how an appreciation of developmental processes can alert behavioural ecologists studying animal personality to critical, untested assumptions that underlie their own research programmes, and outline situations in which a developmental perspective can improve studies of the functional significance and evolution of animal personality.

Global mental health and the National Institute of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Weine, Stevan Merill; Langenecker, Scott; Arenliu, Aliriza

2018-05-01

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project presents innovative ways of investigating mental illness based on behavioral and neurobiological measures of dimensional processes. Although cultural psychiatrists have critiqued RDoC's implications and limitations for its under-developed focus on context and experience, RDoC presents opportunities for synergies with global mental health. It can capture aspects of clinical or sub-clinical behavior which are less dependent upon Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) and perhaps better elucidate the role of culture in disease expression and resilience. Aim/Results: This article uses the example of migration to describe several starting points for new research: (1) providing components for building an investigable conceptual framework to understand individual's mental health, resilience and adjustment to migration challenges or social adversities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and (2) identifying measurable factors which determine resilience or vulnerability, to guide development and evaluation of targeted prevention, treatment and recovery strategies for mental health in LMICs. In such ways, RDoC frameworks could help put the new cutting edge neurobiological dimensional scientific advances in a position to contribute to addressing mental health problems amid social adversities in LMICs. However, this would require a much-expanded commitment by both RDoC and global mental health researchers to address contextual and experiential dimensions.

[Prevalence of negative stereotypes towards old age among personnel of a general hospital].

Science.gov (United States)

Franco S, Mireya; Villarreal R, Enrique; Vargas D, Emma R; Martínez G, Lidia; Galicia R, Liliana

2010-08-01

Social representations are value systems. Social stereotypes are a social consensus of traits associated with a specific group. Stereotypes about older subjects, generally have negative connotations. To assess the prevalence of negative stereotypes towards older subjects among health care personnel. A questionnaire about stereotypes towards old age, with Likert type questions that included health, social motivations and personality-character domains, was applied to 52 doctors, 12 residents, 80 general nurses, 36 auxiliary nurses, four social workers and 10 medical assistants, working at a general hospital. The mean age of the professionals who answered the questionnaire was 38 years (95% confidence intervals (CI) 37-39 years) and 78% were women. The prevalence of a Global negative stereotype was 65.0%(95% CI: 59.5-70.5). The figure for the health domain was 64.5% (IC95%; 59.0-70.0), for the social motivation domain was 60%(5%CI: 54.3-65.7) and for the character personality domain was 64% (95%CI: 58.4-69.6). There is a high prevalence of a negative stereotype towards old age among health care personnel.

On global structure of general solution of the Chew-Sow equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerdt, V.P.

1981-01-01

The Chew-Low equations for static p-wave πN-scattering are considered. The equations are formulated in the form of a system of three nonlinear difference equations of the first order which have the general solution depending on three arbitrary periodic functions. An approach to the global construction of the general solution is suggested which is based on the series expansion in powers of one of the arbitrary functions C(ω) determining the structure of the invariant curve for the Chew-Low equations. It is shown that the initial nonlinear problem is reduced to the linear one in every order in C(ω). By means of solving the linear problem the general solution is found in the first-order approximation in C(ω) [ru

A Recurrent De Novo PACS2 Heterozygous Missense Variant Causes Neonatal-Onset Developmental Epileptic Encephalopathy, Facial Dysmorphism, and Cerebellar Dysgenesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Olson, Heather E; Jean-Marçais, Nolwenn; Yang, Edward; Heron, Delphine; Tatton-Brown, Katrina; van der Zwaag, Paul A; Bijlsma, Emilia K; Krock, Bryan L; Backer, E; Kamsteeg, Erik-Jan; Sinnema, Margje; Reijnders, Margot R F; Bearden, David; Begtrup, Amber; Telegrafi, Aida; Lunsing, Roelineke J; Burglen, Lydie; Lesca, Gaetan; Cho, Megan T; Smith, Lacey A; Sheidley, Beth R; Moufawad El Achkar, Christelle; Pearl, Phillip L; Poduri, Annapurna; Skraban, Cara M; Tarpinian, Jennifer; Nesbitt, Addie I; Fransen van de Putte, Dietje E; Ruivenkamp, Claudia A L; Rump, Patrick; Chatron, Nicolas; Sabatier, Isabelle; De Bellescize, Julitta; Guibaud, Laurent; Sweetser, David A; Waxler, Jessica L; Wierenga, Klaas J; Donadieu, Jean; Narayanan, Vinodh; Ramsey, Keri M; Nava, Caroline; Rivière, Jean-Baptiste; Vitobello, Antonio; Tran Mau-Them, Frédéric; Philippe, Christophe; Bruel, Ange-Line; Duffourd, Yannis; Thomas, Laurel; Lelieveld, Stefan H; Schuurs-Hoeijmakers, Janneke; Brunner, Han G; Keren, Boris; Thevenon, Julien; Faivre, Laurence; Thomas, Gary; Thauvin-Robinet, Christel

2018-05-03

Developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs) represent a large clinical and genetic heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental diseases. The identification of pathogenic genetic variants in DEEs remains crucial for deciphering this complex group and for accurately caring for affected individuals (clinical diagnosis, genetic counseling, impacting medical, precision therapy, clinical trials, etc.). Whole-exome sequencing and intensive data sharing identified a recurrent de novo PACS2 heterozygous missense variant in 14 unrelated individuals. Their phenotype was characterized by epilepsy, global developmental delay with or without autism, common cerebellar dysgenesis, and facial dysmorphism. Mixed focal and generalized epilepsy occurred in the neonatal period, controlled with difficulty in the first year, but many improved in early childhood. PACS2 is an important PACS1 paralog and encodes a multifunctional sorting protein involved in nuclear gene expression and pathway traffic regulation. Both proteins harbor cargo(furin)-binding regions (FBRs) that bind cargo proteins, sorting adaptors, and cellular kinase. Compared to the defined PACS1 recurrent variant series, individuals with PACS2 variant have more consistently neonatal/early-infantile-onset epilepsy that can be challenging to control. Cerebellar abnormalities may be similar but PACS2 individuals exhibit a pattern of clear dysgenesis ranging from mild to severe. Functional studies demonstrated that the PACS2 recurrent variant reduces the ability of the predicted autoregulatory domain to modulate the interaction between the PACS2 FBR and client proteins, which may disturb cellular function. These findings support the causality of this recurrent de novo PACS2 heterozygous missense in DEEs with facial dysmorphim and cerebellar dysgenesis. Copyright © 2018 American Society of Human Genetics. All rights reserved.

Developmental principles: fact or fiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Durston, A J

2012-01-01

While still at school, most of us are deeply impressed by the underlying principles that so beautifully explain why the chemical elements are ordered as they are in the periodic table, and may wonder, with the theoretician Brian Goodwin, "whether there might be equally powerful principles that account for the awe-inspiring diversity of body forms in the living realm". We have considered the arguments for developmental principles, conclude that they do exist and have specifically identified features that may generate principles associated with Hox patterning of the main body axis in bilaterian metazoa in general and in the vertebrates in particular. We wonder whether this exercise serves any purpose. The features we discuss were already known to us as parts of developmental mechanisms and defining developmental principles (how, and at which level?) adds no insight. We also see little profit in the proposal by Goodwin that there are principles outside the emerging genetic mechanisms that need to be taken into account. The emerging developmental genetic hierarchies already reveal a wealth of interesting phenomena, whatever we choose to call them.

Cooperative interactions between paired domain and homeodomain.

Science.gov (United States)

Jun, S; Desplan, C

1996-09-01

The Pax proteins are a family of transcriptional regulators involved in many developmental processes in all higher eukaryotes. They are characterized by the presence of a paired domain (PD), a bipartite DNA binding domain composed of two helix-turn-helix (HTH) motifs,the PAI and RED domains. The PD is also often associated with a homeodomain (HD) which is itself able to form homo- and hetero-dimers on DNA. Many of these proteins therefore contain three HTH motifs each able to recognize DNA. However, all PDs recognize highly related DNA sequences, and most HDs also recognize almost identical sites. We show here that different Pax proteins use multiple combinations of their HTHs to recognize several types of target sites. For instance, the Drosophila Paired protein can bind, in vitro, exclusively through its PAI domain, or through a dimer of its HD, or through cooperative interaction between PAI domain and HD. However, prd function in vivo requires the synergistic action of both the PAI domain and the HD. Pax proteins with only a PD appear to require both PAI and RED domains, while a Pax-6 isoform and a new Pax protein, Lune, may rely on the RED domain and HD. We propose a model by which Pax proteins recognize different target genes in vivo through various combinations of their DNA binding domains, thus expanding their recognition repertoire.

Global structure of curves from generalized unitarity cut of three-loop diagrams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hauenstein, Jonathan D.; Huang, Rijun; Mehta, Dhagash; Zhang, Yang

2015-01-01

This paper studies the global structure of algebraic curves defined by generalized unitarity cut of four-dimensional three-loop diagrams with eleven propagators. The global structure is a topological invariant that is characterized by the geometric genus of the algebraic curve. We use the Riemann-Hurwitz formula to compute the geometric genus of algebraic curves with the help of techniques involving convex hull polytopes and numerical algebraic geometry. Some interesting properties of genus for arbitrary loop orders are also explored where computing the genus serves as an initial step for integral or integrand reduction of three-loop amplitudes via an algebraic geometric approach.

The use of MR imaging and spectroscopy of the brain in children investigated for developmental delay: What is the most appropriate imaging strategy?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Griffiths, Paul D. [University of Sheffield, Academic Unit of Radiology, Sheffield (United Kingdom); Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Academic Unit of Radiology, Sheffield (United Kingdom); Batty, Ruth; Raghavan, Ashok; Connolly, Daniel J.A. [Sheffield Children' s Hospital Trust, Department of Radiology, Sheffield (United Kingdom); Warren, Daniel; Hart, Anthony [University of Sheffield, Academic Unit of Radiology, Sheffield (United Kingdom); Sharrard, Mark [Sheffield Children' s Hospital Trust, Department of Paediatrics, Sheffield (United Kingdom); Mordekar, Santosh R. [Sheffield Children' s Hospital Trust, Department of Paediatric Neurology, Sheffield (United Kingdom)

2011-09-15

Developmental delay is a common problem in paediatric practice and many children with developmental delay are referred for MR imaging. Our study was performed as part of a continuing audit process to optimise our MR protocol and case selection. We performed MR imaging and spectroscopy protocol on 157 children with developmental delay. We analysed the effect of these interventions by looking at the overall detection rate of relevant pathology and in particular subgroups of the children. 71% of the children had normal MR imaging, 10% had non-specific findings and 19% had specific abnormalities on MR imaging. The overall risk of having a specific structural abnormality with isolated developmental was 7.5% but if other neurological symptoms/signs were present the risk was 28%. Two children had abnormal spectroscopic findings, one with tuberous sclerosis and the other with absent brain creatine. Case selection for MR imaging is important in children with developmental delay. The best strategies for selecting children for MR are either; not performing MR with developmental delay in one domain only or performing MR with developmental delay in three or four domains or if there are other neurological features. (orig.)

The use of MR imaging and spectroscopy of the brain in children investigated for developmental delay: What is the most appropriate imaging strategy?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griffiths, Paul D.; Batty, Ruth; Raghavan, Ashok; Connolly, Daniel J.A.; Warren, Daniel; Hart, Anthony; Sharrard, Mark; Mordekar, Santosh R.

2011-01-01

Developmental delay is a common problem in paediatric practice and many children with developmental delay are referred for MR imaging. Our study was performed as part of a continuing audit process to optimise our MR protocol and case selection. We performed MR imaging and spectroscopy protocol on 157 children with developmental delay. We analysed the effect of these interventions by looking at the overall detection rate of relevant pathology and in particular subgroups of the children. 71% of the children had normal MR imaging, 10% had non-specific findings and 19% had specific abnormalities on MR imaging. The overall risk of having a specific structural abnormality with isolated developmental was 7.5% but if other neurological symptoms/signs were present the risk was 28%. Two children had abnormal spectroscopic findings, one with tuberous sclerosis and the other with absent brain creatine. Case selection for MR imaging is important in children with developmental delay. The best strategies for selecting children for MR are either; not performing MR with developmental delay in one domain only or performing MR with developmental delay in three or four domains or if there are other neurological features. (orig.)

The role of domain-general frontal systems in language comprehension: evidence from dual-task interference and semantic ambiguity.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodd, Jennifer M; Johnsrude, Ingrid S; Davis, Matthew H

2010-12-01

Neuroimaging studies have shown that the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) plays a critical role in semantic and syntactic aspects of speech comprehension. It appears to be recruited when listeners are required to select the appropriate meaning or syntactic role for words within a sentence. However, this region is also recruited during tasks not involving sentence materials, suggesting that the systems involved in processing ambiguous words within sentences are also recruited for more domain-general tasks that involve the selection of task-relevant information. We use a novel dual-task methodology to assess whether the cognitive system(s) that are engaged in selecting word meanings are also involved in non-sentential tasks. In Experiment 1, listeners were slower to decide whether a visually presented letter is in upper or lower case when the sentence that they are simultaneously listening to contains words with multiple meanings (homophones), compared to closely matched sentences without homophones. Experiment 2 indicates that this interference effect is not tied to the occurrence of the homophone itself, but rather occurs when listeners must reinterpret a sentence that was initially misparsed. These results suggest some overlap between the cognitive system involved in semantic disambiguation and the domain-general process of response selection required for the case-judgement task. This cognitive overlap may reflect neural overlap in the networks supporting these processes, and is consistent with the proposal that domain-general selection processes in inferior frontal regions are critical for language comprehension. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Diagnostic evaluation of the developmental level in children identified at risk of delay through the Child Development Evaluation Test].

Science.gov (United States)

Rizzoli-Córdoba, Antonio; Campos-Maldonado, Martha Carmen; Vélez-Andrade, Víctor Hugo; Delgado-Ginebra, Ismael; Baqueiro-Hernández, César Iván; Villasís-Keever, Miguel Ángel; Reyes-Morales, Hortensia; Ojeda-Lara, Lucía; Davis-Martínez, Erika Berenice; O'Shea-Cuevas, Gabriel; Aceves-Villagrán, Daniel; Carrasco-Mendoza, Joaquín; Villagrán-Muñoz, Víctor Manuel; Halley-Castillo, Elizabeth; Sidonio-Aguayo, Beatriz; Palma-Tavera, Josuha Alexander; Muñoz-Hernández, Onofre

The Child Development Evaluation (or CDE Test) was developed in Mexico as a screening tool for child developmental problems. It yields three possible results: normal, slow development or risk of delay. The modified version was elaborated using the information obtained during the validation study but its properties according to the base population are not known. The objective of this work was to establish diagnostic confirmation of developmental delay in children 16- to 59-months of age previously identified as having risk of delay through the CDE Test in primary care facilities. A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in one Mexican state. CDE test was administered to 11,455 children 16- to 59-months of age from December/2013 to March/2014. The eligible population represented the 6.2% of the children (n=714) who were identified at risk of delay through the CDE Test. For inclusion in the study, a block randomization stratified by sex and age group was performed. Each participant included in the study had a diagnostic evaluation using the Battelle Development Inventory, 2 nd edition. From the 355 participants included with risk of delay, 65.9% were male and 80.2% were from rural areas; 6.5% were false positives (Total Development Quotient ˃90) and 6.8% did not have any domain with delay (Domain Developmental Quotient <80). The proportion of delay for each domain was as follows: communication 82.5%; cognitive 80.8%; social-personal 33.8%; motor 55.5%; and adaptive 41.7%. There were significant differences in the percentages of delay both by age and by domain/subdomain evaluated. In 93.2% of the participants, developmental delay was corroborated in at least one domain evaluated. Copyright © 2015 Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

Domain wall networks on solitons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sutcliffe, Paul

2003-01-01

Domain wall networks on the surface of a soliton are studied in a simple theory. It consists of two complex scalar fields, in 3+1 dimensions, with a global U(1)xZ n symmetry, where n>2. Solutions are computed numerically in which one of the fields forms a Q ball and the other field forms a network of domain walls localized on the surface of the Q ball. Examples are presented in which the domain walls lie along the edges of a spherical polyhedron, forming junctions at its vertices. It is explained why only a small restricted class of polyhedra can arise as domain wall networks

B-spline Collocation with Domain Decomposition Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hidayat, M I P; Parman, S; Ariwahjoedi, B

2013-01-01

A global B-spline collocation method has been previously developed and successfully implemented by the present authors for solving elliptic partial differential equations in arbitrary complex domains. However, the global B-spline approximation, which is simply reduced to Bezier approximation of any degree p with C 0 continuity, has led to the use of B-spline basis of high order in order to achieve high accuracy. The need for B-spline bases of high order in the global method would be more prominent in domains of large dimension. For the increased collocation points, it may also lead to the ill-conditioning problem. In this study, overlapping domain decomposition of multiplicative Schwarz algorithm is combined with the global method. Our objective is two-fold that improving the accuracy with the combination technique, and also investigating influence of the combination technique to the employed B-spline basis orders with respect to the obtained accuracy. It was shown that the combination method produced higher accuracy with the B-spline basis of much lower order than that needed in implementation of the initial method. Hence, the approximation stability of the B-spline collocation method was also increased.

Global general pediatric surgery partnership: The UCLA-Mozambique experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Amado, Vanda; Martins, Deborah B; Karan, Abraar; Johnson, Brittni; Shekherdimian, Shant; Miller, Lee T; Taela, Atanasio; DeUgarte, Daniel A

2017-09-01

There has been increasing recognition of the disparities in surgical care throughout the world. Increasingly, efforts are being made to improve local infrastructure and training of surgeons in low-income settings. The purpose of this study was to review the first 5-years of a global academic pediatric general surgery partnership between UCLA and the Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique. A mixed-methods approach was utilized to perform an ongoing needs assessment. A retrospective review of admission and operative logbooks was performed. Partnership activities were summarized. The needs assessment identified several challenges including limited operative time, personnel, equipment, and resources. Review of logbooks identified a high frequency of burn admissions and colorectal procedures. Partnership activities focused on providing educational resources, on-site proctoring, training opportunities, and research collaboration. This study highlights the spectrum of disease and operative case volume of a referral center for general pediatric surgery in sub-Saharan Africa, and it provides a context for academic partnership activities to facilitate training and improve the quality of pediatric general surgical care in limited-resource settings. Level IV. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Towards Building an AOP-based Prenatal Developmental Toxicity Ontology (CEFIC LRI Workshop - Brussels)

Science.gov (United States)

Ontologies are a way to formalize domain-specific scientific knowledge. A developmental ontology would help researchers describe the pathways and processes critical to embryonic development and provide a way to link their chemical disruption to adverse outcomes. Designing one for...

Frequency-domain and time-domain methods for feedback nonlinear systems and applications to chaos control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duan Zhisheng; Wang Jinzhi; Yang Ying; Huang Lin

2009-01-01

This paper surveys frequency-domain and time-domain methods for feedback nonlinear systems and their possible applications to chaos control, coupled systems and complex dynamical networks. The absolute stability of Lur'e systems with single equilibrium and global properties of a class of pendulum-like systems with multi-equilibria are discussed. Time-domain and frequency-domain criteria for the convergence of solutions are presented. Some latest results on analysis and control of nonlinear systems with multiple equilibria and applications to chaos control are reviewed. Finally, new chaotic oscillating phenomena are shown in a pendulum-like system and a new nonlinear system with an attraction/repulsion function.

A general model and numerical method for multiconductor systems in frequency domain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jonas, F. [Swedish Transmission Research Inst., Ludvika (Sweden); Varju, G. [Technical Univ. of Budapest (Hungary). Dept. of Electric Power Systems

1995-12-01

A general multi-conductor model is described in this article. It is based on the distributed line parameter simulation with acceptance of non-homogeneous line sections, discrete and distributed sources, complex discrete elements of any kind at any point. Every parameter and element can be non-linear. The model and the software implementation has successfully been used for solution of different frequency domain problems, e.g. harmonic penetration in unbalanced power networks, railway circuits with auto- or booster transformers, telecommunication circuits. The results of a number of calculated cases have been verified by field tests. An application example is demonstrated in the article: calculation of telecommunication disturbances caused by a railway line with booster transformers in an armored cable. 10 refs, 10 figs, 2 tabs

The Generalized Support Software (GSS) Domain Engineering Process: An Object-Oriented Implementation and Reuse Success at Goddard Space Flight Center

Science.gov (United States)

Condon, Steven; Hendrick, Robert; Stark, Michael E.; Steger, Warren

1997-01-01

The Flight Dynamics Division (FDD) of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) recently embarked on a far-reaching revision of its process for developing and maintaining satellite support software. The new process relies on an object-oriented software development method supported by a domain specific library of generalized components. This Generalized Support Software (GSS) Domain Engineering Process is currently in use at the NASA GSFC Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL). The key facets of the GSS process are (1) an architecture for rapid deployment of FDD applications, (2) a reuse asset library for FDD classes, and (3) a paradigm shift from developing software to configuring software for mission support. This paper describes the GSS architecture and process, results of fielding the first applications, lessons learned, and future directions

Interpretation of NMR relaxation properties of Pin1, a two-domain protein, based on Brownian dynamic simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernado, Pau; Fernandes, Miguel X.; Jacobs, Doris M.; Fiebig, Klaus; Garcia de la Torre, Jose; Pons, Miquel

2004-01-01

Many important proteins contain multiple domains connected by flexible linkers. Inter-domain motion is suggested to play a key role in many processes involving molecular recognition. Heteronuclear NMR relaxation is sensitive to motions in the relevant time scales and could provide valuable information on the dynamics of multi-domain proteins. However, the standard analysis based on the separation of global tumbling and fast local motions is no longer valid for multi-domain proteins undergoing internal motions involving complete domains and that take place on the same time scale than the overall motion.The complexity of the motions experienced even for the simplest two-domain proteins are difficult to capture with simple extensions of the classical Lipari-Szabo approach. Hydrodynamic effects are expected to dominate the motion of the individual globular domains, as well as that of the complete protein. Using Pin1 as a test case, we have simulated its motion at the microsecond time scale, at a reasonable computational expense, using Brownian Dynamic simulations on simplified models. The resulting trajectories provide insight on the interplay between global and inter-domain motion and can be analyzed using the recently published method of isotropic Reorientational Mode Dynamics which offer a way of calculating their contribution to heteronuclear relaxation rates. The analysis of trajectories computed with Pin1 models of different flexibility provides a general framework to understand the dynamics of multi-domain proteins and explains some of the observed features in the relaxation rate profile of free Pin1

Interpretation of NMR relaxation properties of Pin1, a two-domain protein, based on Brownian dynamic simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bernado, Pau [Institut de Biologie Structurale, Jean Pierre Ebel (France); Fernandes, Miguel X. [Universidad de Murcia, Departamento de Quimica Fisica, Facultad de Quimica (Spain); Jacobs, Doris M. [Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt, Institut fuer Organische Chemie und Chemische Biologie (Germany); Fiebig, Klaus [Affinium Pharmaceuticals (Canada); Garcia de la Torre, Jose [Universidad de Murcia, Departamento de Quimica Fisica, Facultad de Quimica (Spain); Pons, Miquel [Laboratori de RMN de Biomolecules, Parc Cientific de Barcelona (Spain)], E-mail: mpons@ub.edu

2004-05-15

Many important proteins contain multiple domains connected by flexible linkers. Inter-domain motion is suggested to play a key role in many processes involving molecular recognition. Heteronuclear NMR relaxation is sensitive to motions in the relevant time scales and could provide valuable information on the dynamics of multi-domain proteins. However, the standard analysis based on the separation of global tumbling and fast local motions is no longer valid for multi-domain proteins undergoing internal motions involving complete domains and that take place on the same time scale than the overall motion.The complexity of the motions experienced even for the simplest two-domain proteins are difficult to capture with simple extensions of the classical Lipari-Szabo approach. Hydrodynamic effects are expected to dominate the motion of the individual globular domains, as well as that of the complete protein. Using Pin1 as a test case, we have simulated its motion at the microsecond time scale, at a reasonable computational expense, using Brownian Dynamic simulations on simplified models. The resulting trajectories provide insight on the interplay between global and inter-domain motion and can be analyzed using the recently published method of isotropic Reorientational Mode Dynamics which offer a way of calculating their contribution to heteronuclear relaxation rates. The analysis of trajectories computed with Pin1 models of different flexibility provides a general framework to understand the dynamics of multi-domain proteins and explains some of the observed features in the relaxation rate profile of free Pin1.

Global Dynamical Systems Involving Generalized -Projection Operators and Set-Valued Perturbation in Banach Spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yun-zhi Zou

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A new class of generalized dynamical systems involving generalized f-projection operators is introduced and studied in Banach spaces. By using the fixed-point theorem due to Nadler, the equilibrium points set of this class of generalized global dynamical systems is proved to be nonempty and closed under some suitable conditions. Moreover, the solutions set of the systems with set-valued perturbation is showed to be continuous with respect to the initial value.

Domain-general involvement of the posterior frontolateral cortex in time-based resource-sharing in working memory: An fMRI study.

Science.gov (United States)

Vergauwe, Evie; Hartstra, Egbert; Barrouillet, Pierre; Brass, Marcel

2015-07-15

Working memory is often defined in cognitive psychology as a system devoted to the simultaneous processing and maintenance of information. In line with the time-based resource-sharing model of working memory (TBRS; Barrouillet and Camos, 2015; Barrouillet et al., 2004), there is accumulating evidence that, when memory items have to be maintained while performing a concurrent activity, memory performance depends on the cognitive load of this activity, independently of the domain involved. The present study used fMRI to identify regions in the brain that are sensitive to variations in cognitive load in a domain-general way. More precisely, we aimed at identifying brain areas that activate during maintenance of memory items as a direct function of the cognitive load induced by both verbal and spatial concurrent tasks. Results show that the right IFJ and bilateral SPL/IPS are the only areas showing an increased involvement as cognitive load increases and do so in a domain general manner. When correlating the fMRI signal with the approximated cognitive load as defined by the TBRS model, it was shown that the main focus of the cognitive load-related activation is located in the right IFJ. The present findings indicate that the IFJ makes domain-general contributions to time-based resource-sharing in working memory and allowed us to generate the novel hypothesis by which the IFJ might be the neural basis for the process of rapid switching. We argue that the IFJ might be a crucial part of a central attentional bottleneck in the brain because of its inability to upload more than one task rule at once. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Avoidance of singularity and global non-conservation of energy in general relativity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verma, M.M.

2009-06-01

We show that the singularity in the General Theory of Relativity (GTR) is the expression of a non-Machian feature. It can be avoided with a scale-invariant dynamical theory, a property lacking in GTR. It is further argued that the global non-conservation of energy in GTR also results from the lack of scale-invariance, and the field formulation presented by several authors can only partly resolve the problem. Assuming the global energy conservation, we propose a negative energy density component with a positive equation of state that can drive the late-time acceleration in the universe, while the positive component confines to smaller scales. (author)

Developmental Principles: Fact or Fiction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. J. Durston

2012-01-01

Full Text Available While still at school, most of us are deeply impressed by the underlying principles that so beautifully explain why the chemical elements are ordered as they are in the periodic table, and may wonder, with the theoretician Brian Goodwin, “whether there might be equally powerful principles that account for the awe-inspiring diversity of body forms in the living realm”. We have considered the arguments for developmental principles, conclude that they do exist and have specifically identified features that may generate principles associated with Hox patterning of the main body axis in bilaterian metazoa in general and in the vertebrates in particular. We wonder whether this exercise serves any purpose. The features we discuss were already known to us as parts of developmental mechanisms and defining developmental principles (how, and at which level? adds no insight. We also see little profit in the proposal by Goodwin that there are principles outside the emerging genetic mechanisms that need to be taken into account. The emerging developmental genetic hierarchies already reveal a wealth of interesting phenomena, whatever we choose to call them.

Precursors of developmental dyslexia: an overview of the longitudinal Dutch Dyslexia Programme study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Leij, A.; van Bergen, E.; van Zuijen, T.; de Jong, P.; Maurits, N.; Maassen, B.

2013-01-01

Converging evidence suggests that developmental dyslexia is a neurobiological disorder, characterized by deficits in the auditory, visual, and linguistic domains. In the longitudinal project of the Dutch Dyslexia Programme, 180 children with a familial risk of dyslexia (FR) and a comparison group of

The real mechanisms of the global economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angel Asensio

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the main arguments of Bresser Pereira's Globalization and Competition. Development strategies based on the 'conventional orthodoxy' are shown to carry serious drawbacks ("Dutch disease", pernicious effects of external saving, currency overvaluation, while a 'new developmentalism' is promoted, in spite of the widespread belief that the nation-states have been dispossessed of their room for manoeuvre because of the globalization process. The "new developmentalism" is based on domestic finance, balanced public budgets, moderate interest rates and competitiveness policies aimed at neutralizing the tendency to exchange rate overappreciation. The paper also points out a few theoretical questions the book raises.

Workplace learning from a socio-cultural perspective: creating developmental space during the general practice clerkship.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Zwet, J; Zwietering, P J; Teunissen, P W; van der Vleuten, C P M; Scherpbier, A J J A

2011-08-01

Workplace learning in undergraduate medical education has predominantly been studied from a cognitive perspective, despite its complex contextual characteristics, which influence medical students' learning experiences in such a way that explanation in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes and single determinants of instructiveness is unlikely to suffice. There is also a paucity of research which, from a perspective other than the cognitive or descriptive one, investigates student learning in general practice settings, which are often characterised as powerful learning environments. In this study we took a socio-cultural perspective to clarify how students learn during a general practice clerkship and to construct a conceptual framework that captures this type of learning. Our analysis of group interviews with 44 fifth-year undergraduate medical students about their learning experiences in general practice showed that students needed developmental space to be able to learn and develop their professional identity. This space results from the intertwinement of workplace context, personal and professional interactions and emotions such as feeling respected and self-confident. These forces framed students' participation in patient consultations, conversations with supervisors about consultations and students' observation of supervisors, thereby determining the opportunities afforded to students to mind their learning. These findings resonate with other conceptual frameworks and learning theories. In order to refine our interpretation, we recommend that further research from a socio-cultural perspective should also explore other aspects of workplace learning in medical education.

Gravity and domain wall problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rai, B.; Senjanovic, G.

1992-11-01

It is well known that the spontaneous breaking of discrete symmetries may lead to conflict with big-bang cosmology. This is due to formation of domain walls which give unacceptable contribution to the energy density of the universe. On the other hand, it is expected that gravity breaks global symmetries explicitly. In this work we propose that this could provide a natural solution to the domain-wall problem. (author). 17 refs

The role of empowerment in youth development: a study of sociopolitical control as mediator of ecological systems' influence on developmental outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Christens, Brian D; Peterson, N Andrew

2012-05-01

Empowerment has become an influential concept and theoretical framework for social policy and practice. Still, relatively little is known about the roles that empowerment plays in the ecology of human development, particularly among young people. This article reports results of a study of psychological empowerment among young people, using data from 629 high school students (65.8% female; 96.5% non-white). Using a path analysis, we examined the role of perceived sociopolitical control--an indicator of the intrapersonal component of psychological empowerment--as a mediator between ecological support systems and developmental outcomes. Findings confirmed that social support in family, peer, and school settings, and family cohesion positively predict self-esteem and perceived school importance, which, in turn, have protective effects on psychological symptoms, violent behaviors and substance use. Sociopolitical control was found to mediate the relationships between ecological supports and risk factors and developmental outcomes, leading to the conclusion that perceived efficacy in the sociopolitical domain, and youth empowerment, more generally, should be considered as core elements of the ecology of human development. Policy and practice aimed at promoting positive developmental outcomes and preventing risk behaviors should take their relationship to sociopolitical control into account.

Trisomy 21 and facial developmental instability.

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Starbuck, John M; Cole, Theodore M; Reeves, Roger H; Richtsmeier, Joan T

2013-05-01

The most common live-born human aneuploidy is trisomy 21, which causes Down syndrome (DS). Dosage imbalance of genes on chromosome 21 (Hsa21) affects complex gene-regulatory interactions and alters development to produce a wide range of phenotypes, including characteristic facial dysmorphology. Little is known about how trisomy 21 alters craniofacial morphogenesis to create this characteristic appearance. Proponents of the "amplified developmental instability" hypothesis argue that trisomy 21 causes a generalized genetic imbalance that disrupts evolutionarily conserved developmental pathways by decreasing developmental homeostasis and precision throughout development. Based on this model, we test the hypothesis that DS faces exhibit increased developmental instability relative to euploid individuals. Developmental instability was assessed by a statistical analysis of fluctuating asymmetry. We compared the magnitude and patterns of fluctuating asymmetry among siblings using three-dimensional coordinate locations of 20 anatomic landmarks collected from facial surface reconstructions in four age-matched samples ranging from 4 to 12 years: (1) DS individuals (n = 55); (2) biological siblings of DS individuals (n = 55); 3) and 4) two samples of typically developing individuals (n = 55 for each sample), who are euploid siblings and age-matched to the DS individuals and their euploid siblings (samples 1 and 2). Identification in the DS sample of facial prominences exhibiting increased fluctuating asymmetry during facial morphogenesis provides evidence for increased developmental instability in DS faces. We found the highest developmental instability in facial structures derived from the mandibular prominence and lowest in facial regions derived from the frontal prominence. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Mindfulness and Compassion Training in Adolescence: A Developmental Contemplative Science Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Roeser, Robert W.; Pinela, Cristi

2014-01-01

Adolescence is a developmental period of risk, as well as a window of opportunity for cultivating positive development and thriving. It is characterized by simultaneous changes in the brain, body, mind, and social domains that offer a platform for building new skills and habits. This chapter discusses the role that secular forms of mindfulness and…

Domain-specific languages in perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. Heering (Jan); M. Mernik (Marjan)

2007-01-01

textabstractDomain-specific languages (DSLs) are languages tailored to a specific application domain. They offer substantial gains in expressiveness and ease of use compared with general-purpose languages in their domain of application. Although the use of DSLs is by no means new, it is receiving

Popularization of remote sensing education and general course construction in undergraduate education

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Jing'ai; Sheng, Zhongyao; Yu, Han

2014-01-01

The construction of a course focused on remote sensing is important because it cultivates college students' geographic abilities and popularizes remote sensing technology. Using internet datasets, this article compares data from general undergraduate courses at almost 100 universities located in the United States and China with 3 years of experimental teaching data from the general undergraduate ''Remote sensing Region'' course at Beijing Normal University. The comparison focuses on curricular concepts, course content, website construction and the popularity of the remote sensing topic. Our research shows that the ''remote sensing region'' course can promote the geographic abilities of college students by popularizing remote sensing observation technology. The course can improve the overall quality of college students by breaking major barriers, and it can promote global and national consciousness by presenting material with global and regional relevancy. Remote sensing imaging has become known as the third most intuitive geographic language after text and maps. The general remote sensing course have the three following developmental qualities: interdisciplinarity, popularization and internationalization

Relation between infants'/toddlers' developmental status and their levels of object play

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Urška Fekonja

2001-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of introduced study was to establish the connection between the highest achieved levels of infant' and toddler's object play and their developmental status. 23 Slovenian infants and toddlers were included in the sample. They were engaged in solitary play with standard toys. Global and partial quotients were established using the early childhood development scale RT-R. The levels of child's solitary play were estimated using assesment scale designed by Belsky and Most. The results showed some statisticaly significant correlations between children's developmental qoutients (global and partial and their highest achieved levels of object play. As the basis for the interpretation of results I used the theories which explain the development of child's language, cognition and play.

The role of developmental plasticity and epigenetics in human health.

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Gluckman, Peter D; Hanson, Mark A; Low, Felicia M

2011-03-01

Considerable epidemiological, experimental and clinical data have amassed showing that the risk of developing disease in later life is dependent on early life conditions, mainly operating within the normative range of developmental exposures. This relationship reflects plastic responses made by the developing organism as an evolved strategy to cope with immediate or predicted circumstances, to maximize fitness in the context of the range of environments potentially faced. There is now increasing evidence, both in animals and humans, that such developmental plasticity is mediated in part by epigenetic mechanisms. However, recognition of the importance of developmental plasticity as an important factor in influencing later life health-particularly within the medical and public health communities-is low, and we argue that this indifference cannot be sustained in light of the growing understanding of developmental processes and the rapid rise in the prevalence of obesity and metabolic disease globally. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Where theory and practice of global health intersect: the developmental history of a Canadian global health initiative.

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Daibes, Ibrahim; Sridharan, Sanjeev

2014-01-01

This paper examines the scope of practice of global health, drawing on the practical experience of a global health initiative of the Government of Canada--the Teasdale-Corti Global Health Research Partnership Program. A number of challenges in the practical application of theoretical definitions and understandings of global health are addressed. These challenges are grouped under five areas that form essential characteristics of global health: equity and egalitarian North-South partnerships, interdisciplinary scope, focus on upstream determinants of health, global conceptualization, and global health as an area of both research and practice. Information in this paper is based on the results of an external evaluation of the program, which involved analysis of project proposals and technical reports, surveys with grantees and interviews with grantees and program designers, as well as case studies of three projects and a review of relevant literature. The philosophy and recent definitions of global health represent a significant and important departure from the international health paradigm. However, the practical applicability of this maturing area of research and practice still faces significant systemic and structural impediments that, if not acknowledged and addressed, will continue to undermine the development of global health as an effective means to addressing health inequities globally and to better understanding, and acting upon, upstream determinants of health toward health for all. While it strives to redress global inequities, global health continues to be a construct that is promoted, studied, and dictated mostly by Northern institutions and scholars. Until practical mechanisms are put in place for truly egalitarian partnerships between North and South for both the study and practice of global health, the emerging philosophy of global health cannot be effectively put into practice.

Global deletion of glutathione S-Transferase A4 exacerbates developmental nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

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We established a mouse model of developmental nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) by feeding a high polyunsaturated fat liquid diet to female glutathione-S-transferase 4-4 (Gsta4-/-)/peroxisome proliferator activated receptor a (Ppara-/-) double knockout 129/SvJ mice for 12 weeks from weaning. We us...

Predictive, Construct, and Convergent Validity of General and Domain-Specific Measures of Hope for College Student Academic Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Cecil; Rose, Sage

2010-01-01

One leading version of hope theory posits hope to be a general disposition for goal-directed agency and pathways thinking. Domain-specific hope theory suggests that hope operates within context and measures of hope should reflect that context. This study examined three measures of hope to test the predictive, construct, and convergent validity…

Influence of Urbanization Factors on Surface Urban Heat Island Intensity: A Comparison of Countries at Different Developmental Phases

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Yaoping Cui

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Urbanization is a global problem with demographic trends. The urban heat island plays a dominant role in local climate systems. Despite existing efforts to understand the impacts of multiple urbanization factors on the urban heat island globally, very little is known about the attribution of urban heat island magnitude to urbanization in different locations or developmental phases. In this study, based on global land surface temperature data, urban spatial domain data, gross domestic product (GDP, and population data, we analyzed the influence of multiple urbanization factors on global surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII. We also tentatively compared the abovementioned factors between different regions across the globe, especially between China and the USA, the largest countries that are experiencing or have experienced rapid urbanization in recent decades. The results showed that global SUHII had remarkable spatial heterogeneity due to the geographical and socioeconomic variation between cities. There was a significant correlation between SUHII and population as well as GDP in global cities. Moreover, this study suggested that the impacts of population on SUHII might be stronger in the early stages of urbanization, and the GDP factor would become a critical factor at a certain development level. The urban area also had non-ignorable impacts on SUHII, while the correlation between SUHII and urban shape was relatively weak. All these may imply that the best approach to slow down SUHII is to find other solutions, e.g., optimize the spatial configuration of urban internal landscapes, when the urbanization reaches a high level.

The General Aggression Model.

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Allen, Johnie J; Anderson, Craig A; Bushman, Brad J

2018-02-01

The General Aggression Model (GAM) is a comprehensive, integrative, framework for understanding aggression. It considers the role of social, cognitive, personality, developmental, and biological factors on aggression. Proximate processes of GAM detail how person and situation factors influence cognitions, feelings, and arousal, which in turn affect appraisal and decision processes, which in turn influence aggressive or nonaggressive behavioral outcomes. Each cycle of the proximate processes serves as a learning trial that affects the development and accessibility of aggressive knowledge structures. Distal processes of GAM detail how biological and persistent environmental factors can influence personality through changes in knowledge structures. GAM has been applied to understand aggression in many contexts including media violence effects, domestic violence, intergroup violence, temperature effects, pain effects, and the effects of global climate change. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social geography of developmental health in the early years.

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Hertzman, Clyde

2010-01-01

What happens to children in their earliest years is critical for their development throughout the life course. The years from zero to school age are foundational for brain and biological development. Attachment and face recognition; impulse control and regulation of physical aggression; executive function in the prefrontal cortex and focused attention; fine and gross motor functions and coordination; receptive and expressive language; and understandings of quantitative concepts are all established during this time and become embedded in the architecture and function of the brain (Doherty 1997; Kolb 2009; McCain and Mustard 1999). Brain and biological development are in turn expressed through three broad domains of development of the whole child: physical, social-emotional and language-cognitive, which together are the basis of "developmental health" (Keating and Hertzman 1999). Developmental health influences many aspects of well-being, including obesity and stunting, mental health, heart disease, competence in literacy and numeracy, criminality and economic participation throughout life (Irwin et al. 2007). Accordingly, developmental health is the central concern of this article.

Working-memory training improves developmental dyslexia in Chinese children

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yan Luo; Jing Wang; Hanrong Wu; Dongmei Zhu; Yu Zhang

2013-01-01

Although plasticity in the neural system underlies working memory, and working memory can be improved by training, there is thus far no evidence that children with developmental dyslexia can were recruited from an elementary school in Wuhan, China. They received working-memory training, including training in visuospatial memory, verbal memory, and central executive tasks. The difficulty of the tasks was adjusted based on the performance of each subject, and the training sessions lasted 40 minutes per day, for 5 weeks. The results showed that working-memory training significantly enhanced performance on the nontrained working memory tasks such as the visuospatial, the verbal domains, and central executive tasks in children with developmental dyslexia. More importantly, the visual rhyming task and reading fluency task were also significantly improved by training. Progress on working memory measures was related to changes in reading skills. These experimental findings indicate that working memory is a pivotal factor in reading development among children with developmental dyslexia, and interventions to improve working memory may help dyslexic children to become more proficient in reading.

Ensuring oral health for older individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Waldman, H Barry; Perlman, Steven P

2012-04-01

To emphasise the oral health needs of older individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the impact on the individual's general health and the role that can be played by nurses. All too often an examination and consideration of the oral health condition of this patient population by nurses/physicians is cursory at best. The increasing retention of the dentition into later years of life provides both the favourable abilities for eating, speech and self esteem, but also the potential for local and general health concerns. Discursive paper. Based on the findings from dental examination of thousands of international athletes in the Special Olympic Games and clinical experiences in academic and private practice settings for care of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a discursive listing was developed for use in a preliminary examination of the oral cavity. A nurse can play a critical role in the examination, preventive services and referrals for dental care for older individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The specific oral health needs of older individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities should be an integral component of the preventive and general health care provided by nurses. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Building clinical networks: a developmental evaluation framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Carswell, Peter; Manning, Benjamin; Long, Janet; Braithwaite, Jeffrey

2014-05-01

Clinical networks have been designed as a cross-organisational mechanism to plan and deliver health services. With recent concerns about the effectiveness of these structures, it is timely to consider an evidence-informed approach for how they can be developed and evaluated. To document an evaluation framework for clinical networks by drawing on the network evaluation literature and a 5-year study of clinical networks. We searched literature in three domains: network evaluation, factors that aid or inhibit network development, and on robust methods to measure network characteristics. This material was used to build a framework required for effective developmental evaluation. The framework's architecture identifies three stages of clinical network development; partner selection, network design and network management. Within each stage is evidence about factors that act as facilitators and barriers to network growth. These factors can be used to measure progress via appropriate methods and tools. The framework can provide for network growth and support informed decisions about progress. For the first time in one place a framework incorporating rigorous methods and tools can identify factors known to affect the development of clinical networks. The target user group is internal stakeholders who need to conduct developmental evaluation to inform key decisions along their network's developmental pathway.

South Africa's transformational approach to global governance ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

One goal was to transform structures and institutions of global governance while another aim was to place developmental goals on the global agenda. As South Africa targeted UN agencies, notably the Security Council, the IMF, World Bank, WTO and more recently the G20, the curious question begs: will South Africa ...

Domain-General Brain Regions Do Not Track Linguistic Input as Closely as Language-Selective Regions.

Science.gov (United States)

Blank, Idan A; Fedorenko, Evelina

2017-10-11

Language comprehension engages a cortical network of left frontal and temporal regions. Activity in this network is language-selective, showing virtually no modulation by nonlinguistic tasks. In addition, language comprehension engages a second network consisting of bilateral frontal, parietal, cingulate, and insular regions. Activity in this "multiple demand" (MD) network scales with comprehension difficulty, but also with cognitive effort across a wide range of nonlinguistic tasks in a domain-general fashion. Given the functional dissociation between the language and MD networks, their respective contributions to comprehension are likely distinct, yet such differences remain elusive. Prior neuroimaging studies have suggested that activity in each network covaries with some linguistic features that, behaviorally, influence on-line processing and comprehension. This sensitivity of the language and MD networks to local input characteristics has often been interpreted, implicitly or explicitly, as evidence that both networks track linguistic input closely, and in a manner consistent across individuals. Here, we used fMRI to directly test this assumption by comparing the BOLD signal time courses in each network across different people ( n = 45, men and women) listening to the same story. Language network activity showed fewer individual differences, indicative of closer input tracking, whereas MD network activity was more idiosyncratic and, moreover, showed lower reliability within an individual across repetitions of a story. These findings constrain cognitive models of language comprehension by suggesting a novel distinction between the processes implemented in the language and MD networks. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Language comprehension recruits both language-specific mechanisms and domain-general mechanisms that are engaged in many cognitive processes. In the human cortex, language-selective mechanisms are implemented in the left-lateralized "core language network

Polycomb domain formation depends on short and long distance regulatory cues.

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Bernd Schuettengruber

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Polycomb group (PcG proteins dynamically define cellular identities through the epigenetic repression of key developmental genes. In Drosophila, cis-regulatory regions termed PcG response elements (PREs act as nucleation sites for PcG proteins to create large repressive PcG domains that are marked by trimethylation of lysine 27 on histone H3 (H3K27me3. In addition to an action in cis, PREs can interact over long distances, thereby enhancing PcG dependent silencing. How PcG domains are established, which factors limit their propagation in cis, and how long range interactions of PREs in trans affect the chromatin structure is largely unknown. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We demonstrate that the insertion of a PRE-containing transgene in the Drosophila genome generates an artificial PcG domain and we analyze its organization by quantitative ChIP and ChIP-on-chip experiments. Intriguingly, a boundary element and known insulator proteins do not necessarily interfere with spreading of H3K27me3. Instead, domain borders correlate with the presence of promoter regions bound by RNA Polymerase II and active chromatin marks. In contrast, genes that are silent during early fly development get included within the PcG domain and this incorporation interferes with gene activation at later developmental stages. Moreover, trans-interaction of the transgenic PRE with its homologous endogenous PRE results in increased PcG binding, correlating with reinforced silencing of genes within the domain borders. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that higher-order organization of PcG-bound chromatin can stabilize gene silencing within PcG domains. Further we propose that multi-protein complexes associated with active promoters are able to define the limits of PcG domains. Future work aimed to pinpoint the factors providing this barrier function will be required to understand the precise molecular mechanism by which active promoter regions can act as boundaries to stop

Developmental Reorganization of the Core and Extended Face Networks Revealed by Global Functional Connectivity.

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Wang, Xu; Zhu, Qi; Song, Yiying; Liu, Jia

2017-08-28

Prior studies on development of functional specialization in human brain mainly focus on age-related increases in regional activation and connectivity among regions. However, a few recent studies on the face network demonstrate age-related decrease in face-specialized activation in the extended face network (EFN), in addition to increase in activation in the core face network (CFN). Here we used a voxel-based global brain connectivity approach to investigate whether development of the face network exhibited both increase and decrease in network connectivity. We found the voxel-wise resting-state functional connectivity (FC) within the CFN increased with age in bilateral posterior superior temporal sulcus, suggesting the integration of the CFN during development. Interestingly, the FC of the voxels in the EFN to the right fusiform face area and occipital face area decreased with age, suggesting that the CFN segregated from the EFN during development. Moreover, the age-related connectivity in the CFN was related to behavioral performance in face processing. Overall, our study demonstrated developmental reorganization of the face network achieved by both integration within the CFN and segregation of the CFN from the EFN, which may account for the simultaneous increases and decreases in neural activation during the development of the face network. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Developmental Dyscalculia and Automatic Magnitudes Processing: Investigating Interference Effects between Area and Perimeter

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Hili Eidlin-Levy

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The relationship between numbers and other magnitudes has been extensively investigated in the scientific literature. Here, the objectives were to examine whether two continuous magnitudes, area and perimeter, are automatically processed and whether adults with developmental dyscalculia (DD are deficient in their ability to automatically process one or both of these magnitudes. Fifty-seven students (30 with DD and 27 with typical development performed a novel Stroop-like task requiring estimation of one aspect (area or perimeter while ignoring the other. In order to track possible changes in automaticity due to practice, we measured performance after initial and continuous exposure to stimuli. Similar to previous findings, current results show a significant group × congruency interaction, evident beyond exposure level or magnitude type. That is, the DD group systematically showed larger Stroop effects. However, analysis of each exposure period showed that during initial exposure to stimuli the DD group showed larger Stroop effects in the perimeter and not in the area task. In contrast, during continuous exposure to stimuli no triple interaction was evident. It is concluded that both magnitudes are automatically processed. Nevertheless, individuals with DD are deficient in inhibiting irrelevant magnitude information in general and, specifically, struggle to inhibit salient area information after initial exposure to a perimeter comparison task. Accordingly, the findings support the assumption that DD involves a deficiency in multiple cognitive components, which include domain-specific and domain-general cognitive functions.

Developmental Dyscalculia and Automatic Magnitudes Processing: Investigating Interference Effects between Area and Perimeter.

Science.gov (United States)

Eidlin-Levy, Hili; Rubinsten, Orly

2017-01-01

The relationship between numbers and other magnitudes has been extensively investigated in the scientific literature. Here, the objectives were to examine whether two continuous magnitudes, area and perimeter, are automatically processed and whether adults with developmental dyscalculia (DD) are deficient in their ability to automatically process one or both of these magnitudes. Fifty-seven students (30 with DD and 27 with typical development) performed a novel Stroop-like task requiring estimation of one aspect (area or perimeter) while ignoring the other. In order to track possible changes in automaticity due to practice, we measured performance after initial and continuous exposure to stimuli. Similar to previous findings, current results show a significant group × congruency interaction, evident beyond exposure level or magnitude type. That is, the DD group systematically showed larger Stroop effects. However, analysis of each exposure period showed that during initial exposure to stimuli the DD group showed larger Stroop effects in the perimeter and not in the area task. In contrast, during continuous exposure to stimuli no triple interaction was evident. It is concluded that both magnitudes are automatically processed. Nevertheless, individuals with DD are deficient in inhibiting irrelevant magnitude information in general and, specifically, struggle to inhibit salient area information after initial exposure to a perimeter comparison task. Accordingly, the findings support the assumption that DD involves a deficiency in multiple cognitive components, which include domain-specific and domain-general cognitive functions.

Asymptotic profile of global solutions to the generalized double dispersion equation via the nonlinear term

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Wang, Yu-Zhu; Wei, Changhua

2018-04-01

In this paper, we investigate the initial value problem for the generalized double dispersion equation in R^n. Weighted decay estimate and asymptotic profile of global solutions are established for n≥3 . The global existence result was already proved by Kawashima and the first author in Kawashima and Wang (Anal Appl 13:233-254, 2015). Here, we show that the nonlinear term plays an important role in this asymptotic profile.

Social-Vocational Skills of Developmentally Disabled and Nonhandicapped Workers in Two Community Employment Sites

OpenAIRE

Lignugaris/Kraft, Benjamin; Salzberg, Charles L.; Rule, S.; Stowitschek, J. J.

1988-01-01

The social interactions of employees with and without developmental disabilities were observed in two community employment settings during work and breaks. Conversations were frequent and generally concerned work-related topics. Target workers different in how often they interacted with coworkers with and without developmental disabilities. During work, workers with developmental disabilities received commands more often than did their counterparts without developmental disabilities. Work-rel...

Predictors and the distal outcome of general Internet use: The identification of children's developmental trajectories.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Jeong Jin; Park, Su Jung

2017-11-01

This study examined the predictors and distal outcome in relation to the frequency of online activities and investigated the presence of prototypical trajectories following different patterns of general Internet use over 5 years. The data set consisted of a nationally representative sample of 2,840 fourth graders (M age  = 9.86 years) in South Korea at baseline. Analyses revealed rank-order stability in general Internet use with four latent classes: high stable (5.8%), high quadratic (20.3%), moderate stable (32.7%), and low stable (41.2%). Youth with higher levels of perceived parental monitoring knowledge, friendship closeness, and depressed mood at baseline were more likely to belong to the high stable class, while girls were more likely to be in the high quadratic or moderate stable classes relative to the low stable class. The high stable class had the greatest odds of reporting alcohol use at grade eight, whereas the low stable class had the lowest odds. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Internet usage increases as children progress through to early adolescence and then levels off Longitudinal data have shown that adolescents' greater Internet use is predictive of their higher levels of drinking What does this study add? To explore different developmental pathways of Internet use in relation to its antecedents and distal outcome Early adolescents who spend more time on the Internet have a greater chance of starting to drink The interindividual rank-order stability of general Internet usage exists at least before late childhood. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

The experiences of Latino siblings of children with developmental disabilities.

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Kao, B; Romero-Bosch, L; Plante, W; Lobato, D

2012-07-01

This qualitative study explored the experiences of Latino siblings of children with developmental disabilities. Parents and typically developing siblings from 15 Latino families with a child with a developmental disability participated in separate interviews. Using consensual qualitative research methodology, domains reflecting siblings' relationships, emotional experiences and communication about the disability were identified. The child's need for caregiving was a prominent topic in the sibling and parent narratives. Parents reported concerns about siblings' experience of differential treatment, whereas siblings reported concerns about restricted social activities because of their brother/sister. Including multiple informants revealed commonalities and differences in parents' and siblings' perspectives on the impact of a child's disability. The importance of considering sibling adaptation in sociocultural context is discussed. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Developmental toxicity of organotin compounds in animals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lijiao eWu

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Organotin compounds (OTs have been used as biocides in antifouling paints and agriculture. The IMO introduced a global ban on the use of OTs in antifouling systems in 2001 due to their high toxicity. However, OTs have still been detected in the environment and pose a threat to the ecosystem. Several research groups have summarized the analytical methods, environmental fate, biochemistry, reproductive toxicity and mechanisms of actions of OTs. Here, we reviewed the developmental toxicity of OTs in various organisms such as sea urchin, ascidian, mussel and fish. The differences in sensitivity to OT exposure exist not only in different species but also at different stages in the same species. Though some hypotheses have been proposed to explain the developmental toxicity of OTs, the solid evidences are greatly in need.

Arguments from Developmental Order.

Science.gov (United States)

Stöckle-Schobel, Richard

2016-01-01

In this article, I investigate a special type of argument regarding the role of development in theorizing about psychological processes and cognitive capacities. Among the issues that developmental psychologists study, discovering the ontogenetic trajectory of mechanisms or capacities underpinning our cognitive functions ranks highly. The order in which functions are developed or capacities are acquired is a matter of debate between competing psychological theories, and also philosophical conceptions of the mind - getting the role and the significance of the different steps in this order right could be seen as an important virtue of such theories. Thus, a special kind of strategy in arguments between competing philosophical or psychological theories is using developmental order in arguing for or against a given psychological claim. In this article, I will introduce an analysis of arguments from developmental order, which come in two general types: arguments emphasizing the importance of the early cognitive processes and arguments emphasizing the late cognitive processes. I will discuss their role in one of the central tools for evaluating scientific theories, namely in making inferences to the best explanation. I will argue that appeal to developmental order is, by itself, an insufficient criterion for theory choice and has to be part of an argument based on other core explanatory or empirical virtues. I will end by proposing a more concerted study of philosophical issues concerning (cognitive) development, and I will present some topics that also pertain to a full-fledged 'philosophy of development.'

Aberrant Behaviours of Reaction Diffusion Self-organisation Models on Growing Domains in the Presence of Gene Expression Time Delays

KAUST Repository

Seirin Lee, S.

2010-03-23

Turing\\'s pattern formation mechanism exhibits sensitivity to the details of the initial conditions suggesting that, in isolation, it cannot robustly generate pattern within noisy biological environments. Nonetheless, secondary aspects of developmental self-organisation, such as a growing domain, have been shown to ameliorate this aberrant model behaviour. Furthermore, while in-situ hybridisation reveals the presence of gene expression in developmental processes, the influence of such dynamics on Turing\\'s model has received limited attention. Here, we novelly focus on the Gierer-Meinhardt reaction diffusion system considering delays due the time taken for gene expression, while incorporating a number of different domain growth profiles to further explore the influence and interplay of domain growth and gene expression on Turing\\'s mechanism. We find extensive pathological model behaviour, exhibiting one or more of the following: temporal oscillations with no spatial structure, a failure of the Turing instability and an extreme sensitivity to the initial conditions, the growth profile and the duration of gene expression. This deviant behaviour is even more severe than observed in previous studies of Schnakenberg kinetics on exponentially growing domains in the presence of gene expression (Gaffney and Monk in Bull. Math. Biol. 68:99-130, 2006). Our results emphasise that gene expression dynamics induce unrealistic behaviour in Turing\\'s model for multiple choices of kinetics and thus such aberrant modelling predictions are likely to be generic. They also highlight that domain growth can no longer ameliorate the excessive sensitivity of Turing\\'s mechanism in the presence of gene expression time delays. The above, extensive, pathologies suggest that, in the presence of gene expression, Turing\\'s mechanism would generally require a novel and extensive secondary mechanism to control reaction diffusion patterning. © 2010 Society for Mathematical Biology.

Predicting Homophobic Behavior among Heterosexual Youth: Domain General and Sexual Orientation-Specific Factors at the Individual and Contextual Level

Science.gov (United States)

Poteat, V. Paul; DiGiovanni, Craig D.; Scheer, Jillian R.

2013-01-01

As a form of bias-based harassment, homophobic behavior remains prominent in schools. Yet, little attention has been given to factors that underlie it, aside from bullying and sexual prejudice. Thus, we examined multiple domain general (empathy, perspective-taking, classroom respect norms) and sexual orientation-specific factors (sexual…

Importance of investing in adolescence from a developmental science perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Dahl, Ronald E; Allen, Nicholas B; Wilbrecht, Linda; Suleiman, Ahna Ballonoff

2018-02-21

This review summarizes the case for investing in adolescence as a period of rapid growth, learning, adaptation, and formational neurobiological development. Adolescence is a dynamic maturational period during which young lives can pivot rapidly-in both negative and positive directions. Scientific progress in understanding adolescent development provides actionable insights into windows of opportunity during which policies can have a positive impact on developmental trajectories relating to health, education, and social and economic success. Given current global changes and challenges that affect adolescents, there is a compelling need to leverage these advances in developmental science to inform strategic investments in adolescent health.

The development of a short domain-general measure of working memory capacity.

Science.gov (United States)

Oswald, Frederick L; McAbee, Samuel T; Redick, Thomas S; Hambrick, David Z

2015-12-01

Working memory capacity is one of the most frequently measured individual difference constructs in cognitive psychology and related fields. However, implementation of complex span and other working memory measures is generally time-consuming for administrators and examinees alike. Because researchers often must manage the tension between limited testing time and measuring numerous constructs reliably, a short and effective measure of working memory capacity would often be a major practical benefit in future research efforts. The current study developed a shortened computerized domain-general measure of working memory capacity by representatively sampling items from three existing complex working memory span tasks: operation span, reading span, and symmetry span. Using a large archival data set (Study 1, N = 4,845), we developed and applied a principled strategy for developing the reduced measure, based on testing a series of confirmatory factor analysis models. Adequate fit indices from these models lent support to this strategy. The resulting shortened measure was then administered to a second independent sample (Study 2, N = 172), demonstrating that the new measure saves roughly 15 min (30%) of testing time on average, and even up to 25 min depending on the test-taker. On the basis of these initial promising findings, several directions for future research are discussed.

DomPep--a general method for predicting modular domain-mediated protein-protein interactions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Li

Full Text Available Protein-protein interactions (PPIs are frequently mediated by the binding of a modular domain in one protein to a short, linear peptide motif in its partner. The advent of proteomic methods such as peptide and protein arrays has led to the accumulation of a wealth of interaction data for modular interaction domains. Although several computational programs have been developed to predict modular domain-mediated PPI events, they are often restricted to a given domain type. We describe DomPep, a method that can potentially be used to predict PPIs mediated by any modular domains. DomPep combines proteomic data with sequence information to achieve high accuracy and high coverage in PPI prediction. Proteomic binding data were employed to determine a simple yet novel parameter Ligand-Binding Similarity which, in turn, is used to calibrate Domain Sequence Identity and Position-Weighted-Matrix distance, two parameters that are used in constructing prediction models. Moreover, DomPep can be used to predict PPIs for both domains with experimental binding data and those without. Using the PDZ and SH2 domain families as test cases, we show that DomPep can predict PPIs with accuracies superior to existing methods. To evaluate DomPep as a discovery tool, we deployed DomPep to identify interactions mediated by three human PDZ domains. Subsequent in-solution binding assays validated the high accuracy of DomPep in predicting authentic PPIs at the proteome scale. Because DomPep makes use of only interaction data and the primary sequence of a domain, it can be readily expanded to include other types of modular domains.

Toward an Intersectional Approach in Developmental Science: The Role of Race, Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Immigrant Status.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghavami, Negin; Katsiaficas, Dalal; Rogers, Leoandra Onnie

2016-01-01

Developmental theory and research have often focused on a single social identity category, for example, race or sexual orientation, and examined the consequences of that category on life outcomes. Yet intersectional models of social disadvantage (eg, Cole, 2009; Crenshaw, 1995; King, 1988) suggest that social categories combine to shape the experiences and life outcomes of individuals across life domains. In this chapter, we review empirical research that offers insight into the intersectionality of social identities across three critical developmental periods, namely, middle childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood. We also consider the consequences of intersecting identities across several life domains, including intergroup relations and political and civic engagement. Recognizing that the body of work on social identities is expansive, we focus our review on race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and immigrant status. In each developmental stage, we discuss what we know, drawing from the limited empirical literature, and offer suggestions on where we need to go moving forward. We conclude that research that focuses on as a single category and ignores the specific domain of development provides an incomplete and inaccurate picture that will hinder efforts to develop culturally appropriate and clinically effective prevention and intervention programs to meet the needs of our diverse children and youth living in the United States. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Developmental programming and transgenerational transmission of obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Vickers, M H

2014-01-01

The global obesity pandemic is often causally linked to marked changes in diet and lifestyle, namely marked increases in dietary intakes of high-energy diets and concomitant reductions in physical activity levels. However, far less attention has been paid to the role of developmental plasticity and alterations in phenotypic outcomes resulting from environmental perturbations during the early-life period. Human and animal studies have highlighted the link between alterations in the early-life environment and increased susceptibility to obesity and related metabolic disorders in later life. In particular, altered maternal nutrition, including both undernutrition and maternal obesity, has been shown to lead to transgenerational transmission of metabolic disorders. This association has been conceptualised as the developmental programming hypothesis whereby the impact of environmental influences during critical periods of developmental plasticity can elicit lifelong effects on the physiology of the offspring. Further, evidence to date suggests that this developmental programming is a transgenerational phenomenon, with a number of studies showing transmission of programming effects to subsequent generations, even in the absence of continued environmental stressors, thus perpetuating a cycle of obesity and metabolic disorders. The mechanisms responsible for these transgenerational effects remain poorly understood; evidence to date suggests a number of potential mechanisms underpinning the transgenerational transmission of the developmentally programmed phenotype through both the maternal and paternal lineage. Transgenerational phenotype transmission is often seen as a form of epigenetic inheritance with evidence showing both germline and somatic inheritance of epigenetic modifications leading to phenotype changes across generations. However, there is also evidence for non-genomic components as well as an interaction between the developing fetus with the in utero

Global Ethics Applied: Global Ethics, Economic Ethics

OpenAIRE

Stückelberger, Christoph

2016-01-01

Global Ethics Applied’ in four volumes is a reader of 88 selected articles from the author on 13 domains: Vol. 1 Global Ethics, Economic Ethics; Vol. 2 Environmental Ethics; Vol. 3 Development Ethics, Political Ethics, Dialogue and Peace Ethics, Innovation and Research Ethics, Information and Communication Ethics; Vol. 4 Bioethics and Medical Ethics, Family Ethics and Sexual Ethics, Leadership Ethics, Theological Ethics and Ecclesiology, Methods of Ethics. It concludes with the extended Bibli...

Transcriptional signatures of ancient floral developmental genetics in avocado (Persea americana; Lauraceae).

Science.gov (United States)

Chanderbali, André S; Albert, Victor A; Leebens-Mack, Jim; Altman, Naomi S; Soltis, Douglas E; Soltis, Pamela S

2009-06-02

The debate on the origin and evolution of flowers has recently entered the field of developmental genetics, with focus on the design of the ancestral floral regulatory program. Flowers can differ dramatically among angiosperm lineages, but in general, male and female reproductive organs surrounded by a sterile perianth of sepals and petals constitute the basic floral structure. However, the basal angiosperm lineages exhibit spectacular diversity in the number, arrangement, and structure of floral organs, whereas the evolutionarily derived monocot and eudicot lineages share a far more uniform floral ground plan. Here we show that broadly overlapping transcriptional programs characterize the floral transcriptome of the basal angiosperm Persea americana (avocado), whereas floral gene expression domains are considerably more organ specific in the model eudicot Arabidopsis thaliana. Our findings therefore support the "fading borders" model for organ identity determination in basal angiosperm flowers and extend it from the action of regulatory genes to downstream transcriptional programs. Furthermore, the declining expression of components of the staminal transcriptome in central and peripheral regions of Persea flowers concurs with elements of a previous hypothesis for developmental regulation in a gymnosperm "floral progenitor." Accordingly, in contrast to the canalized organ-specific regulatory apparatus of Arabidopsis, floral development may have been originally regulated by overlapping transcriptional cascades with fading gradients of influence from focal to bordering organs.

Developmental immunotoxicity testing of 4-methyl anisole.

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Tonk, Elisa C M; Verhoef, Aart; Gremmer, Eric R; van Loveren, Henk; Piersma, Aldert H

2015-07-01

The developmental immunotoxicity of 4-methyl anisole (4MA) was investigated in the rat. Four study designs were used, with either premating or post-weaning onset of exposure, continued to postnatal day 50, and with or without additional oral gavage of pups from postnatal day 10 onward. Reduced litter size (benchmark dose lower confidence limit (BMDL) 80mg/kg bw/day) was the most sensitive developmental parameter, with pup relative organ weight effects observed at similar BMDLs, in the absence of maternal toxicity. Eosinophil numbers were reduced at lower doses (BMDL 16mg/kg bw/day). KLH challenge resulted in increased IL-13 and TNF-α responses, and variably reduced IgG production (BMDL 27mg/kg bw/day). T4 levels were reduced by 11% at maximum with a BMDL of 73mg/kg bw/day. Differences between exposure cohorts were limited and were considered to be without biological significance. This study shows that 4MA induces developmental immunotoxicity at doses below those inducing developmental and general toxicity. These observations being independent of the study designs applied suggest that the post-weaning period, included in all designs, is the most relevant sensitive period for inducing 4MA mediated developmental immunotoxicity. Moreover, this study stresses the importance of including developmental immunotoxicity testing by default in regulatory toxicology. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Constructivist developmental theory is needed in developmental neuroscience

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Arsalidou, Marie; Pascual-Leone, Juan

2016-12-01

Neuroscience techniques provide an open window previously unavailable to the origin of thoughts and actions in children. Developmental cognitive neuroscience is booming, and knowledge from human brain mapping is finding its way into education and pediatric practice. Promises of application in developmental cognitive neuroscience rests however on better theory-guided data interpretation. Massive amounts of neuroimaging data from children are being processed, yet published studies often do not frame their work within developmental models—in detriment, we believe, to progress in this field. Here we describe some core challenges in interpreting the data from developmental cognitive neuroscience, and advocate the use of constructivist developmental theories of human cognition with a neuroscience interpretation.

Ligand binding by PDZ domains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chi, Celestine N.; Bach, Anders; Strømgaard, Kristian

2012-01-01

, for example, are particularly rich in these domains. The general function of PDZ domains is to bring proteins together within the appropriate cellular compartment, thereby facilitating scaffolding, signaling, and trafficking events. The many functions of PDZ domains under normal physiological as well...... as pathological conditions have been reviewed recently. In this review, we focus on the molecular details of how PDZ domains bind their protein ligands and their potential as drug targets in this context....

Reflections on the old and new developmentalism

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JAN KREGEL

2018-03-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT New Developmentalism provides a view out how it incorporates the positive contributions of early development theorists concerned with to the past of development theory as well as a view to the future. This assessment points the similar problems of the importance of exchange rates in the development process to provide a contemporary version of the theory adapted to the twentieth century world of globalization and financialization .

Improvement of training set structure in fusion data cleaning using Time-Domain Global Similarity method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, J.; Lan, T.; Qin, H.

2017-01-01

Traditional data cleaning identifies dirty data by classifying original data sequences, which is a class-imbalanced problem since the proportion of incorrect data is much less than the proportion of correct ones for most diagnostic systems in Magnetic Confinement Fusion (MCF) devices. When using machine learning algorithms to classify diagnostic data based on class-imbalanced training set, most classifiers are biased towards the major class and show very poor classification rates on the minor class. By transforming the direct classification problem about original data sequences into a classification problem about the physical similarity between data sequences, the class-balanced effect of Time-Domain Global Similarity (TDGS) method on training set structure is investigated in this paper. Meanwhile, the impact of improved training set structure on data cleaning performance of TDGS method is demonstrated with an application example in EAST POlarimetry-INTerferometry (POINT) system.

Health numeracy: the importance of domain in assessing numeracy.

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Levy, Helen; Ubel, Peter A; Dillard, Amanda J; Weir, David R; Fagerlin, Angela

2014-01-01

Existing research concludes that measures of general numeracy can be used to predict individuals' ability to assess health risks. We posit that the domain in which questions are posed affects the ability to perform mathematical tasks, raising the possibility of a separate construct of "health numeracy" that is distinct from general numeracy. The objective was to determine whether older adults' ability to perform simple math depends on domain. Community-based participants completed 4 math questions posed in 3 different domains: a health domain, a financial domain, and a pure math domain. Participants were 962 individuals aged 55 and older, representative of the community-dwelling US population over age 54. We found that respondents performed significantly worse when questions were posed in the health domain (54% correct) than in either the pure math domain (66% correct) or the financial domain (63% correct). Our experimental measure of numeracy consisted of only 4 questions, and it is possible that the apparent effect of domain is specific to the mathematical tasks that these questions require. These results suggest that health numeracy is strongly related to general numeracy but that the 2 constructs may not be the same. Further research is needed into how different aspects of general numeracy and health numeracy translate into actual medical decisions.

The global existence problem in general relativity

CERN Document Server

Andersson, L

2000-01-01

We survey some known facts and open questions concerning the global properties of 3+1 dimensional space--times containing a compact Cauchy surface. We consider space--times with an $\\ell$--dimensional Lie algebra of space--like Killing fields. For each $\\ell \\leq 3$, we give some basic results and conjectures on global existence and cosmic censorship. For the case of the 3+1 dimensional Einstein equations without symmetries, a new small data global existence result is announced.

Psychometrics and utility of Psycho-Educational Profile-Revised as a developmental quotient measure among children with the dual disability of intellectual disability and autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Alwinesh, Merlin Thanka Jemi; Joseph, Rachel Beulah Jansirani; Daniel, Anna; Abel, Julie Sandra; Shankar, Satya Raj; Mammen, Priya; Russell, Sushila; Russell, Paul Swamidhas Sudhakar

2012-09-01

There is no agreement about the measure to quantify the intellectual/developmental level in children with the dual disability of intellectual disability and autism. Therefore, we studied the psychometric properties and utility of Psycho-Educational Profile-Revised (PEP-R) as a developmental test in this population. We identified 116 children with dual disability from the day care and inpatient database of a specialised Autism Clinic. Scale and domain level scores of PEP-R were collected and analyzed. We examined the internal consistency, domain-total correlation of PEP-R and concurrent validity of PEP-R against Gesell's Developmental Schedule, inter-rater and test-retest reliability and utility of PEP-R among children with dual disability in different ages, functional level and severity of autism. Besides the adequate face and content validity, PEP-R demonstrates a good internal consistency (Cronbach's α ranging from 0.91 to 0.93) and domain-total correlation (ranging from 0.75 to 0.90). The inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC = 0.96) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.87) for PEP-R is good. There is moderate-to-high concurrent validity with GDS (r ranging from 0.61 to 0.82; all Ps = 0.001). The utility of PEP-R as a developmental measure was good with infants, toddlers, pre-school and primary school children. The ability of PEP-R to measure the developmental age was good, irrespective of the severity of autism but was better with high-functioning children. The PEP-R as an intellectual/developmental test has strong psychometric properties in children with dual disability. It could be used in children with different age groups and severity of autism. PEP-R should be used with caution as a developmental test in children with dual disability who are low functioning.

When words fail us: insights into language processing from developmental and acquired disorders.

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Bishop, Dorothy V M; Nation, Kate; Patterson, Karalyn

2014-01-01

Acquired disorders of language represent loss of previously acquired skills, usually with relatively specific impairments. In children with developmental disorders of language, we may also see selective impairment in some skills; but in this case, the acquisition of language or literacy is affected from the outset. Because systems for processing spoken and written language change as they develop, we should beware of drawing too close a parallel between developmental and acquired disorders. Nevertheless, comparisons between the two may yield new insights. A key feature of connectionist models simulating acquired disorders is the interaction of components of language processing with each other and with other cognitive domains. This kind of model might help make sense of patterns of comorbidity in developmental disorders. Meanwhile, the study of developmental disorders emphasizes learning and change in underlying representations, allowing us to study how heterogeneity in cognitive profile may relate not just to neurobiology but also to experience. Children with persistent language difficulties pose challenges both to our efforts at intervention and to theories of learning of written and spoken language. Future attention to learning in individuals with developmental and acquired disorders could be of both theoretical and applied value.

Generalized Stokes eignefunctions: a new trial basis for the solution of incompressible Navier-Stokes equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batcho, P.F.; Karniadakis, G.E.

1994-01-01

The present study focuses on the solution of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in general, non-separable domains, and employs a Galerkin projection of divergence-free vector functions as a trail basis. This basis is obtained from the solution of a generalized constrained Stokes eigen-problem in the domain of interest. Faster convergence can be achieved by constructing a singular Stokes eigen-problem in which the Stokes operator is modified to include a variable coefficient which vanishes at the domain boundaries. The convergence properties of such functions are advantageous in a least squares sense and are shown to produce significantly better approximations to the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations in post-critical states where unsteadiness characterizes the flowfield. Solutions for the eigen-systems are efficiently accomplished using a combined Lanczos-Uzawa algorithm and spectral element discretizations. Results are presented for different simulations using these global spectral trial basis on non-separable and multiply-connected domains. It is confirmed that faster convergence is obtained using the singular eigen-expansions in approximating stationary Navier-Stokes solutions in general domains. It is also shown that 100-mode expansions of time-dependent solutions based on the singular Stokes eigenfunctions are sufficient to accurately predict the dynamics of flows in such domains, including Hopf bifurcations, intermittency, and details of flow structures

General anaesthetics do not impair developmental expression of the KCC2 potassium-chloride cotransporter in neonatal rats during the brain growth spurt

KAUST Repository

Lacoh, Claudia Marvine

2013-03-26

BackgroundThe developmental transition from depolarizing to hyperpolarizing γ-aminobutyric acid-mediated neurotransmission is primarily mediated by an increase in the amount of the potassium-chloride cotransporter KCC2 during early postnatal life. However, it is not known whether early neuronal activity plays a modulatory role in the expression of total KCC2 mRNA and protein in the immature brain. As general anaesthetics are powerful modulators of neuronal activity, the purpose of this study was to explore how these drugs affect KCC2 expression during the brain growth spurt.MethodsWistar rat pups were exposed to either a single dose or 6 h of midazolam, propofol, or ketamine anaesthesia at postnatal days 0, 5, 10, or 15. KCC2 expression was assessed using immunoblotting, immunohistochemistry, or quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis up to 3 days post-exposure in the medial prefrontal cortex.ResultsThere was a progressive and steep increase in the expression of KCC2 between birth and 2 weeks of age. Exposure to midazolam, propofol, or ketamine up to 6 h at any investigated stages of the brain growth spurt did not influence the expression of this cotransporter protein.ConclusionI.V. general anaesthetics do not seem to influence developmental expression of KCC2 during the brain growth spurt. © 2013 © The Author [2013].

Selector genes display tumor cooperation and inhibition in Drosophila epithelium in a developmental context-dependent manner

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Ram Prakash Gupta

2017-11-01

Full Text Available During animal development, selector genes determine identities of body segments and those of individual organs. Selector genes are also misexpressed in cancers, although their contributions to tumor progression per se remain poorly understood. Using a model of cooperative tumorigenesis, we show that gain of selector genes results in tumor cooperation, but in only select developmental domains of the wing, haltere and eye-antennal imaginal discs of Drosophila larva. Thus, the field selector, Eyeless (Ey, and the segment selector, Ultrabithorax (Ubx, readily cooperate to bring about neoplastic transformation of cells displaying somatic loss of the tumor suppressor, Lgl, but in only those developmental domains that express the homeo-box protein, Homothorax (Hth, and/or the Zinc-finger protein, Teashirt (Tsh. In non-Hth/Tsh-expressing domains of these imaginal discs, however, gain of Ey in lgl− somatic clones induces neoplastic transformation in the distal wing disc and haltere, but not in the eye imaginal disc. Likewise, gain of Ubx in lgl− somatic clones induces transformation in the eye imaginal disc but not in its endogenous domain, namely, the haltere imaginal disc. Our results reveal that selector genes could behave as tumor drivers or inhibitors depending on the tissue contexts of their gains.

2015 Cross-Domain Deterrence Seminar Summary Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Juarez, A. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2016-01-11

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) hosted the 2nd Annual Cross-Domain Deterrence Seminar on November 17th, 2015 in Livermore, CA. The seminar was sponsored by LLNL’s Center for Global Security Research (CGSR), National Security Office (NSO), and Global Security program. This summary covers the seminar’s panels and subsequent discussions.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluation of developmental delay in pediatric patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Althaf S; Syed, Naziya P; Murthy, G S N; Nori, Madhavi; Abkari, Anand; Pooja, B K; Venkateswarlu, J

2015-01-01

Developmental delay is defined as significant delay in one or more developmental domains. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the best modality to investigate such patients. Evaluation of a child with developmental delay is important not only because it allows early diagnosis and treatment but also helpful for parental counseling regarding the outcome of their child and to identify any possible risk of recurrence in the siblings. Thus this study was undertaken to evaluate the developmental delay in Indian children which will help the clinicians in providing an estimation of the child's ultimate developmental potential and organize specific treatment requirement and also relieve parental apprehension. To study the prevalence of normal and abnormal MRI in pediatric patients presenting with developmental delay and further categorize the abnormal MRI based on its morphological features. It is a prospective, observational & descriptive study of MRI Brain in 81 paediatric patients (46 Males and 35 Females), aged between three months to 12 years; presenting with developmental delay in Deccan College of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad; over a period of three years (Sept 2011 to Sept 2014). MRI brain was done on 1.5T Siemens Magnetom Essenza & 0.35T Magnetom C with appropriate sequences and planes after making the child sleep/sedated/ anesthetized. Various anatomical structures like Ventricles, Corpus callosum, etc were systematically assessed. The MRI findings were divided into various aetiological subgroups. Normal MRI findings were seen in 32% cases and 68% had abnormal findings of which the proportion of Traumatic/ Neurovascular Diseases, Congenital & Developmental, Metabolic and Degenerative, neoplastic and non specific were 31%, 17%, 10%, 2.5% and 7.5% respectively. The ventricles and white matter mainly the corpus callosum were the most commonly affected anatomical structures. The diagnostic yield was found to be 68% and higher yield was seen in patients presenting with

Directly assessing interpersonal RSA influences in the frequency domain: An illustration with generalized partial directed coherence.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Siwei; Gates, Kathleen M; Blandon, Alysia Y

2018-06-01

Despite recent research indicating that interpersonal linkage in physiology is a common phenomenon during social interactions, and the well-established role of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) in socially facilitative physiological regulation, little research has directly examined interpersonal influences in RSA, perhaps due to methodological challenges in analyzing multivariate RSA data. In this article, we aim to bridge this methodological gap by introducing a new method for quantifying interpersonal RSA influences. Specifically, we show that a frequency-domain statistic, generalized partial directed coherence (gPDC), can be used to capture lagged relations in RSA between social partners without first estimating RSA for each person. We illustrate its utility by examining the relation between gPDC and marital conflict in a sample of married couples. Finally, we discuss how gPDC complements existing methods in the time domain and provide guidelines for choosing among these different statistical techniques. © 2018 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Nonverbal learning disabilities and developmental dyscalculia: Differential diagnosis of two Brazilian children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magda Solange Vanzo Pestun

Full Text Available Nonverbal learning disabilities (NVLD, a clinical condition still little reported in Brazil, are characterized by damages in the visual spatial domains, visual motor integration, fine motor skills, math skills and social and emotional difficulties. Developmental Dyscalculia (DD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects basic arithmetic skills acquisition, including storage and recovery of arithmetic facts, calculation fluency and precision and number sense domain. Although both are persistent Math learning disorder/disability, they cause different damages. The objective of this case report is to describe, compare and analyze the neuropsychological profile of two Brazilian children with similar complaints but distinct diagnosis.

Domain engineering of the metastable domains in the 4f-uniaxial-ferromagnet CeRu2Ga2B

Science.gov (United States)

Wulferding, D.; Kim, H.; Yang, I.; Jeong, J.; Barros, K.; Kato, Y.; Martin, I.; Ayala-Valenzuela, O. E.; Lee, M.; Choi, H. C.; Ronning, F.; Civale, L.; Baumbach, R. E.; Bauer, E. D.; Thompson, J. D.; Movshovich, R.; Kim, Jeehoon

2017-04-01

In search of novel, improved materials for magnetic data storage and spintronic devices, compounds that allow a tailoring of magnetic domain shapes and sizes are essential. Good candidates are materials with intrinsic anisotropies or competing interactions, as they are prone to host various domain phases that can be easily and precisely selected by external tuning parameters such as temperature and magnetic field. Here, we utilize vector magnetic fields to visualize directly the magnetic anisotropy in the uniaxial ferromagnet CeRu2Ga2B. We demonstrate a feasible control both globally and locally of domain shapes and sizes by the external field as well as a smooth transition from single stripe to bubble domains, which opens the door to future applications based on magnetic domain tailoring.

Rational Choice and Developmental Influences on Recidivism Among Adolescent Felony Offenders.

Science.gov (United States)

Fagan, Jeffrey; Piquero, Alex R

2007-12-01

Recent case law and social science both have claimed that the developmental limitations of adolescents affect their capacity for control and decision making with respect to crime, diminishing their culpability and reducing their exposure to punishment. Social science has focused on two concurrent adolescent developmental influences: the internalization of legal rules and norms that regulate social and antisocial behaviors, and the development of rationality to frame behavioral choices and decisions. The interaction of these two developmental processes, and the identification of one domain of socialization and development as the primary source of motivation or restraint in adolescence, is the focus of this article. Accordingly, we combine rational choice and legal socialization frameworks into an integrated, developmental model of criminality. We test this framework in a large sample of adolescent felony offenders who have been interviewed at six-month intervals for two years. Using hierarchical and growth curve models, we show that both legal socialization and rational choice factors influence patterns of criminal offending over time. When punishment risks and costs are salient, crime rates are lower over time. We show that procedural justice is a significant antecedent of legal socialization, but not of rational choice. We also show that both mental health and developmental maturity moderate the effects of perceived crime risks and costs on criminal offending.

Rational Choice and Developmental Influences on Recidivism Among Adolescent Felony Offenders

Science.gov (United States)

Fagan, Jeffrey; Piquero, Alex R.

2009-01-01

Recent case law and social science both have claimed that the developmental limitations of adolescents affect their capacity for control and decision making with respect to crime, diminishing their culpability and reducing their exposure to punishment. Social science has focused on two concurrent adolescent developmental influences: the internalization of legal rules and norms that regulate social and antisocial behaviors, and the development of rationality to frame behavioral choices and decisions. The interaction of these two developmental processes, and the identification of one domain of socialization and development as the primary source of motivation or restraint in adolescence, is the focus of this article. Accordingly, we combine rational choice and legal socialization frameworks into an integrated, developmental model of criminality. We test this framework in a large sample of adolescent felony offenders who have been interviewed at six-month intervals for two years. Using hierarchical and growth curve models, we show that both legal socialization and rational choice factors influence patterns of criminal offending over time. When punishment risks and costs are salient, crime rates are lower over time. We show that procedural justice is a significant antecedent of legal socialization, but not of rational choice. We also show that both mental health and developmental maturity moderate the effects of perceived crime risks and costs on criminal offending. PMID:20148123

Arguments from Developmental Order

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard eStöckle-Schobel

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In this article, I investigate a special type of argument regarding the role of development in theorising about psychological processes and cognitive capacities. Among the issues that developmental psychologists study, discovering the ontogenetic trajectory of mechanisms or capacities underpinning our cognitive functions ranks highly. The order in which functions are developed or capacities are acquired is a matter of debate between competing psychological theories, and also philosophical conceptions of the mind – getting the role and the significance of the different steps in this order right could be seen as an important virtue of such theories.Thus, a special kind of strategy in arguments between competing philosophical or psychological theories is using developmental order in arguing for or against a given psychological claim. In this article, I will introduce an analysis of arguments from developmental order, which come in two general types: arguments emphasising the importance of the early cognitive processes and arguments emphasising the late cognitive processes. I will discuss their role in one of the central tools for evaluating scientific theories, namely in making inferences to the best explanation. I will argue that appeal to developmental order is, by itself, an insufficient criterion for theory choice and has to be part of an argument based on other core explanatory or empirical virtues. I will end by proposing a more concerted study of philosophical issues concerning (cognitive development, and I will present some topics that also pertain to a full-fledged ‘philosophy of development’.

Music cognition: a developmental perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Stalinski, Stephanie M; Schellenberg, E Glenn

2012-10-01

Although music is universal, there is a great deal of cultural variability in music structures. Nevertheless, some aspects of music processing generalize across cultures, whereas others rely heavily on the listening environment. Here, we discuss the development of musical knowledge, focusing on four themes: (a) capabilities that are present early in development; (b) culture-general and culture-specific aspects of pitch and rhythm processing; (c) age-related changes in pitch perception; and (d) developmental changes in how listeners perceive emotion in music. Copyright © 2012 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Developmental phenotype in Phelan-McDermid (22q13.3 deletion) syndrome : A systematic and prospective study in 34 children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zwanenburg, Renée J; Ruiter, Selma A J; van den Heuvel, Edwin R; Flapper, Boudien C T; Van Ravenswaaij-Arts, Conny M A

2016-01-01

Background: Phelan- McDermid syndrome (PMS) or 22q13.3 deletion syndrome is characterized by global developmental delay, cognitive deficits, and behaviour in the autism spectrum. Knowledge about developmental and behavioural characteristics of this rare chromosomal disorder is still limited despite

Developmental phenotype in Phelan- McDermid (22q13.3 deletion) syndrome : a systematic and prospective study in 34 children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zwanenburg, R.J.; Ruiter, S.A.J.; Van Den Heuvel, E.R.; Flapper, B.C.T.; Van Ravenswaaij-Arts, C.M.A.

2016-01-01

Background: Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS) or 22q13.3 deletion syndrome is characterized by global developmental delay, cognitive deficits, and behaviour in the autism spectrum. Knowledge about developmental and behavioural characteristics of this rare chromosomal disorder is still limited despite a

Global versus local mechanisms of temperature sensing in ion channels.

Science.gov (United States)

Arrigoni, Cristina; Minor, Daniel L

2018-05-01

Ion channels turn diverse types of inputs, ranging from neurotransmitters to physical forces, into electrical signals. Channel responses to ligands generally rely on binding to discrete sensor domains that are coupled to the portion of the channel responsible for ion permeation. By contrast, sensing physical cues such as voltage, pressure, and temperature arises from more varied mechanisms. Voltage is commonly sensed by a local, domain-based strategy, whereas the predominant paradigm for pressure sensing employs a global response in channel structure to membrane tension changes. Temperature sensing has been the most challenging response to understand and whether discrete sensor domains exist for pressure and temperature has been the subject of much investigation and debate. Recent exciting advances have uncovered discrete sensor modules for pressure and temperature in force-sensitive and thermal-sensitive ion channels, respectively. In particular, characterization of bacterial voltage-gated sodium channel (BacNa V ) thermal responses has identified a coiled-coil thermosensor that controls channel function through a temperature-dependent unfolding event. This coiled-coil thermosensor blueprint recurs in other temperature sensitive ion channels and thermosensitive proteins. Together with the identification of ion channel pressure sensing domains, these examples demonstrate that "local" domain-based solutions for sensing force and temperature exist and highlight the diversity of both global and local strategies that channels use to sense physical inputs. The modular nature of these newly discovered physical signal sensors provides opportunities to engineer novel pressure-sensitive and thermosensitive proteins and raises new questions about how such modular sensors may have evolved and empowered ion channel pores with new sensibilities.

Eco-Evo-Devo: developmental symbiosis and developmental plasticity as evolutionary agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbert, Scott F; Bosch, Thomas C G; Ledón-Rettig, Cristina

2015-10-01

The integration of research from developmental biology and ecology into evolutionary theory has given rise to a relatively new field, ecological evolutionary developmental biology (Eco-Evo-Devo). This field integrates and organizes concepts such as developmental symbiosis, developmental plasticity, genetic accommodation, extragenic inheritance and niche construction. This Review highlights the roles that developmental symbiosis and developmental plasticity have in evolution. Developmental symbiosis can generate particular organs, can produce selectable genetic variation for the entire animal, can provide mechanisms for reproductive isolation, and may have facilitated evolutionary transitions. Developmental plasticity is crucial for generating novel phenotypes, facilitating evolutionary transitions and altered ecosystem dynamics, and promoting adaptive variation through genetic accommodation and niche construction. In emphasizing such non-genomic mechanisms of selectable and heritable variation, Eco-Evo-Devo presents a new layer of evolutionary synthesis.

Does College Matter for Emerging Adulthood? Comparing Developmental Trajectories of Educational Groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Lauren L; Syed, Moin

2015-11-01

Critics of emerging adulthood theory have suggested that it only applies to college students, but this assertion has largely gone untested. The purpose of the present study was to compare developmental trajectories of non-students versus college-educated youth in theoretically relevant domains of work, love, and financial independence. Using data from the Youth Development Study (N = 1139, 49.6 % female, 63.3 % White, 10.9 % Southeast Asian, 1.5 % Other Asian, 8.6 % Black, 5.3 % Mixed Race, 4.0 % Latino, 0.8 % Native American), latent growth curve models were fitted to chart each group's development, from ages 14 to 30. Different trajectories were revealed for hours worked, children, and financial dependence on parents, spouses, and government aid. No differences were found in employment rates, marriage rates, or financial dependence on own income. These results provide a clearer picture of emerging adulthood for non-students, and highlight problems with generalizing college student research to all emerging adults.

Globalization and Science Education

Science.gov (United States)

Bencze, J. Lawrence; Carter, Lyn; Chiu, Mei-Hung; Duit, Reinders; Martin, Sonya; Siry, Christina; Krajcik, Joseph; Shin, Namsoo; Choi, Kyunghee; Lee, Hyunju; Kim, Sung-Won

2013-06-01

Processes of globalization have played a major role in economic and cultural change worldwide. More recently, there is a growing literature on rethinking science education research and development from the perspective of globalization. This paper provides a critical overview of the state and future development of science education research from the perspective of globalization. Two facets are given major attention. First, the further development of science education as an international research domain is critically analyzed. It seems that there is a predominance of researchers stemming from countries in which English is the native language or at least a major working language. Second, the significance of rethinking the currently dominant variants of science instruction from the perspectives of economic and cultural globalization is given major attention. On the one hand, it is argued that processes concerning globalization of science education as a research domain need to take into account the richness of the different cultures of science education around the world. At the same time, it is essential to develop ways of science instruction that make students aware of the various advantages, challenges and problems of international economic and cultural globalization.

Modulation of catalytic activity in multi-domain protein tyrosine phosphatases.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lalima L Madan

Full Text Available Signaling mechanisms involving protein tyrosine phosphatases govern several cellular and developmental processes. These enzymes are regulated by several mechanisms which include variation in the catalytic turnover rate based on redox stimuli, subcellular localization or protein-protein interactions. In the case of Receptor Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases (RPTPs containing two PTP domains, phosphatase activity is localized in their membrane-proximal (D1 domains, while the membrane-distal (D2 domain is believed to play a modulatory role. Here we report our analysis of the influence of the D2 domain on the catalytic activity and substrate specificity of the D1 domain using two Drosophila melanogaster RPTPs as a model system. Biochemical studies reveal contrasting roles for the D2 domain of Drosophila Leukocyte antigen Related (DLAR and Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase on Drosophila chromosome band 99A (PTP99A. While D2 lowers the catalytic activity of the D1 domain in DLAR, the D2 domain of PTP99A leads to an increase in the catalytic activity of its D1 domain. Substrate specificity, on the other hand, is cumulative, whereby the individual specificities of the D1 and D2 domains contribute to the substrate specificity of these two-domain enzymes. Molecular dynamics simulations on structural models of DLAR and PTP99A reveal a conformational rationale for the experimental observations. These studies reveal that concerted structural changes mediate inter-domain communication resulting in either inhibitory or activating effects of the membrane distal PTP domain on the catalytic activity of the membrane proximal PTP domain.

A Proteomic Approach to Identify Phosphorylation-Dependent Targets of BRCT Domains

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Songyang, Zhou

2007-01-01

.... In addition, BRCT domains are found in many proteins that regulate DNA damage repair, cell cycle, and genome stability, implying a more global role of BRCT domains in genome stability surveillance...

Towards Developmental Connectomics of the Human Brain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miao eCao

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Imaging connectomics based on graph theory has become an effective and unique methodological framework for studying structural and functional connectivity patterns of the developing brain. Normal brain development is characterized by continuous and significant network evolution throughout infancy, childhood and adolescence, following specific maturational patterns. Disruption of these normal changes is associated with neuropsychiatric developmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. In this review, we focused on the recent progresses regarding typical and atypical development of human brain networks from birth to early adulthood, using a connectomic approach. Specifically, by the time of birth, structural networks already exhibit adult-like organization, with global efficient small-world and modular structures, as well as hub regions and rich-clubs acting as communication backbones. During development, the structure networks are fine-tuned, with increased global integration and robustness and decreased local segregation, as well as the strengthening of the hubs. In parallel, functional networks undergo more dramatic changes during maturation, with both increased integration and segregation during development, as brain hubs shift from primary regions to high order functioning regions, and the organization of modules transitions from a local anatomical emphasis to a more distributed architecture. These findings suggest that structural networks develop earlier than functional networks; meanwhile functional networks demonstrate more dramatic maturational changes with the evolution of structural networks serving as the anatomical backbone. In this review, we also highlighted topologically disorganized characteristics in structural and functional brain networks in several major developmental neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g., autism spectrum disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and

Toward Developmental Connectomics of the Human Brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Miao; Huang, Hao; Peng, Yun; Dong, Qi; He, Yong

2016-01-01

Imaging connectomics based on graph theory has become an effective and unique methodological framework for studying structural and functional connectivity patterns of the developing brain. Normal brain development is characterized by continuous and significant network evolution throughout infancy, childhood, and adolescence, following specific maturational patterns. Disruption of these normal changes is associated with neuropsychiatric developmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. In this review, we focused on the recent progresses regarding typical and atypical development of human brain networks from birth to early adulthood, using a connectomic approach. Specifically, by the time of birth, structural networks already exhibit adult-like organization, with global efficient small-world and modular structures, as well as hub regions and rich-clubs acting as communication backbones. During development, the structure networks are fine-tuned, with increased global integration and robustness and decreased local segregation, as well as the strengthening of the hubs. In parallel, functional networks undergo more dramatic changes during maturation, with both increased integration and segregation during development, as brain hubs shift from primary regions to high order functioning regions, and the organization of modules transitions from a local anatomical emphasis to a more distributed architecture. These findings suggest that structural networks develop earlier than functional networks; meanwhile functional networks demonstrate more dramatic maturational changes with the evolution of structural networks serving as the anatomical backbone. In this review, we also highlighted topologically disorganized characteristics in structural and functional brain networks in several major developmental neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g., autism spectrum disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and developmental

Toward Developmental Connectomics of the Human Brain

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Miao; Huang, Hao; Peng, Yun; Dong, Qi; He, Yong

2016-01-01

Imaging connectomics based on graph theory has become an effective and unique methodological framework for studying structural and functional connectivity patterns of the developing brain. Normal brain development is characterized by continuous and significant network evolution throughout infancy, childhood, and adolescence, following specific maturational patterns. Disruption of these normal changes is associated with neuropsychiatric developmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. In this review, we focused on the recent progresses regarding typical and atypical development of human brain networks from birth to early adulthood, using a connectomic approach. Specifically, by the time of birth, structural networks already exhibit adult-like organization, with global efficient small-world and modular structures, as well as hub regions and rich-clubs acting as communication backbones. During development, the structure networks are fine-tuned, with increased global integration and robustness and decreased local segregation, as well as the strengthening of the hubs. In parallel, functional networks undergo more dramatic changes during maturation, with both increased integration and segregation during development, as brain hubs shift from primary regions to high order functioning regions, and the organization of modules transitions from a local anatomical emphasis to a more distributed architecture. These findings suggest that structural networks develop earlier than functional networks; meanwhile functional networks demonstrate more dramatic maturational changes with the evolution of structural networks serving as the anatomical backbone. In this review, we also highlighted topologically disorganized characteristics in structural and functional brain networks in several major developmental neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g., autism spectrum disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and developmental

2015 Cross-Domain Deterrence Seminar Bibliography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Juarez, Anthony [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2016-02-04

In November 2015, the Center for Global Security Research, NSO, and Global Security program jointly sponsored a seminar investigating questions related to cross-domain deterrence at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. At the seminar, experts were asked to moderate discussion based on the four topics below. For each of these topics, we have compiled a short list of literature that will help analysts develop a baseline understanding of the issue.

A generalized nonlinear tempeature response function for some growth and developmental parameters in kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa (A. Chev. C. F. Liang & A. R. Ferguson

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Streck Nereu Augusto

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Temperature is a major factor that affects metabolic processes in living organisms. Thermal time has been widely used to account for the effects of temperature on crop growth and development. However, the thermal time approach has been criticized because it assumes a linear relationship between the rate of crop growth or development and temperature. The response of the rate of crop growth and development to temperature is nonlinear. The objective of this study was to develop a generalized nonlinear temperature response function for some growth and developmental parameters in kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa (A. Chev. C. F. Liang & A. R. Ferguson. The nonlinear function has three coefficients (the cardinal temperatures, which were 0ºC, 25ºC, and 40ºC. Data of temperature response of relative growth rate, relative leaf area growth, net photosynthesis rate, and leaf appearance rate in kiwifruit (female cv. Hayward at two light levels, which are from published research, were used as independent data for evaluating the performance of the nonlinear and the thermal time functions. The results showed that the generalized nonlinear response function is better than the thermal time approach, and the temperature response of several growth and developmental parameters in kiwifruit can be described with the same response function.

Single-domain versus two-domain configuration in thin ferromagnetic prisms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pini, Maria Gloria; Politi, Paolo

2007-01-01

Thin ferromagnetic elements in the form of rectangular prisms are theoretically investigated in order to study the transition from single-domain to two-domain state, with changing the in-plane aspect ratio p. We address two main questions: first, how general is the transition; second, how the critical value p c depends on the physical parameters. We use two complementary methods: discrete-lattice calculations and a micromagnetic continuum approach. Ultrathin films do not appear to split in two domains. Instead, thicker films may undergo the above transition. We have used the continuum approach to analyze recent magnetic force microscopy observations in 30nm-thick patterned permalloy elements, finding a good agreement for p c

A general framework for global asymptotic stability analysis of delayed neural networks based on LMI approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao Jinde; Ho, Daniel W.C.

2005-01-01

In this paper, global asymptotic stability is discussed for neural networks with time-varying delay. Several new criteria in matrix inequality form are given to ascertain the uniqueness and global asymptotic stability of equilibrium point for neural networks with time-varying delay based on Lyapunov method and Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) technique. The proposed LMI approach has the advantage of considering the difference of neuronal excitatory and inhibitory efforts, which is also computationally efficient as it can be solved numerically using recently developed interior-point algorithm. In addition, the proposed results generalize and improve previous works. The obtained criteria also combine two existing conditions into one generalized condition in matrix form. An illustrative example is also given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed results

Enhancing the value of psychiatric mouse models; differential expression of developmental behavioral and cognitive profiles in four inbred strains of mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Molenhuis, Remco T; de Visser, Leonie; Bruining, Hilgo; Kas, Martien J

2014-06-01

The behavioral characterization of animal models of psychiatric disorders is often based upon independent traits measured at adult age. To model the neurodevelopmental aspects of psychiatric pathogenesis, we introduce a novel approach for a developmental behavioral analysis in mice. C57BL/6J (C57) mice were used as a reference strain and compared with 129S1/SvImJ (129Sv), BTBR T+tf/J (BTBR) and A/J (AJ) strains as marker strains for aberrant development. Mice were assessed at pre-adolescence (4 weeks), adolescence (6 weeks), early adulthood (8 weeks) and in adulthood (10-12 weeks) on a series of behavioral tasks measuring general health, neurological reflexes, locomotor activity, anxiety, short- and long-term memory and cognitive flexibility. Developmental delays in short-term object memory were associated with either a hypo-reactive profile in 129Sv mice or a hyper-reactive profile in BTBR mice. Furthermore, BTBR mice showed persistent high levels of repetitive grooming behavior during all developmental stages that was associated with the adult expression of cognitive rigidity. In addition, strain differences in development were observed in puberty onset, touch escape, and body position. These data showed that this longitudinal testing battery provides sufficient behavioral and cognitive resolution during different development stages and offers the opportunity to address the behavioral developmental trajectory in genetic mouse models for neurodevelopmental disorders. Furthermore, the data revealed that the assessment of multiple behavioral and cognitive domains at different developmental stages is critical to determine confounding factors (e.g., impaired motor behavior) that may interfere with the behavioral testing performance in mouse models for brain disorders. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved.

The architecture and dynamics of developing mind: experiential structuralism as a frame for unifying cognitive developmental theories.

Science.gov (United States)

Demetriou, A; Efklides, A; Platsidou, M

1993-01-01

This Monograph presents a theory of cognitive development. The theory argues that the mind develops across three fronts. The first refers to a general processing system that defines the general potentials of mind to develop cognitive strategies and skills. The second refers to a hypercognitive system that governs self-understanding and self-regulation. The third involves a set of specialized structural systems (SSSs) that are responsible for the representation and processing of different reality domains. There are specific forces that are responsible for this organization of mind. These are expressed in the Monograph in terms of a set of five organizational principles. The developmental course of the major systems is outlined. Developmental change is ascribed by the theory to the interaction between the various systems. Different types of development require different change mechanisms. Five studies are presented that provide empirical support for these postulates. Study 1 demonstrated the organizational power of principles and SSSs. Study 2 showed that the SSSs constrain the effect of learning. Study 3 established that the hypercognitive system does function as the interface between tasks and SSS-specific processes or between SSSs and general cognitive functions such as attention and memory. Study 4 investigated the relations between one of the components of the processing system, storage, and two different SSSs expressed via two different symbolic systems, namely, the numeric and the imaginal. Finally, Study 5 examined the interaction between the components of the processing system and the relations between each of these components and one SSS, namely, the quantitative-relational SSS. The theoretical implications of these studies with regard to general issues, such as the nature of representation, the causation of cognitive change, and individual differences in cognitive development, are discussed in the concluding chapter.

Domain Adaptation Methods for Improving Lab-to-field Generalization of Cocaine Detection using Wearable ECG

Science.gov (United States)

Natarajan, Annamalai; Angarita, Gustavo; Gaiser, Edward; Malison, Robert; Ganesan, Deepak; Marlin, Benjamin M.

2016-01-01

Mobile health research on illicit drug use detection typically involves a two-stage study design where data to learn detectors is first collected in lab-based trials, followed by a deployment to subjects in a free-living environment to assess detector performance. While recent work has demonstrated the feasibility of wearable sensors for illicit drug use detection in the lab setting, several key problems can limit lab-to-field generalization performance. For example, lab-based data collection often has low ecological validity, the ground-truth event labels collected in the lab may not be available at the same level of temporal granularity in the field, and there can be significant variability between subjects. In this paper, we present domain adaptation methods for assessing and mitigating potential sources of performance loss in lab-to-field generalization and apply them to the problem of cocaine use detection from wearable electrocardiogram sensor data. PMID:28090605

Convergence estimates for iterative methods via the Kriess Matrix Theorem on a general complex domain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toh, K.C.; Trefethen, L.N. [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)

1994-12-31

What properties of a nonsymmetric matrix A determine the convergence rate of iterations such as GMRES, QMR, and Arnoldi? If A is far from normal, should one replace the usual Ritz values {r_arrow} eigenvalues notion of convergence of Arnoldi by alternative notions such as Arnoldi lemniscates {r_arrow} pseudospectra? Since Krylov subspace iterations can be interpreted as minimization processes involving polynomials of matrices, the answers to questions such as these depend upon mathematical problems of the following kind. Given a polynomial p(z), how can one bound the norm of p(A) in terms of (1) the size of p(z) on various sets in the complex plane, and (2) the locations of the spectrum and pseudospectra of A? This talk reports some progress towards solving these problems. In particular, the authors present theorems that generalize the Kreiss matrix theorem from the unit disk (for the monomial A{sup n}) to a class of general complex domains (for polynomials p(A)).

Developmental changes in organization of structural brain networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Khundrakpam, Budhachandra S; Reid, Andrew; Brauer, Jens; Carbonell, Felix; Lewis, John; Ameis, Stephanie; Karama, Sherif; Lee, Junki; Chen, Zhang; Das, Samir; Evans, Alan C

2013-09-01

Recent findings from developmental neuroimaging studies suggest that the enhancement of cognitive processes during development may be the result of a fine-tuning of the structural and functional organization of brain with maturation. However, the details regarding the developmental trajectory of large-scale structural brain networks are not yet understood. Here, we used graph theory to examine developmental changes in the organization of structural brain networks in 203 normally growing children and adolescents. Structural brain networks were constructed using interregional correlations in cortical thickness for 4 age groups (early childhood: 4.8-8.4 year; late childhood: 8.5-11.3 year; early adolescence: 11.4-14.7 year; late adolescence: 14.8-18.3 year). Late childhood showed prominent changes in topological properties, specifically a significant reduction in local efficiency, modularity, and increased global efficiency, suggesting a shift of topological organization toward a more random configuration. An increase in number and span of distribution of connector hubs was found in this age group. Finally, inter-regional connectivity analysis and graph-theoretic measures indicated early maturation of primary sensorimotor regions and protracted development of higher order association and paralimbic regions. Our finding reveals a time window of plasticity occurring during late childhood which may accommodate crucial changes during puberty and the new developmental tasks that an adolescent faces.

Molecular marker differences relate to developmental position and subsets of mesodiencephalic dopaminergic neurons.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simone M Smits

Full Text Available The development of mesodiencephalic dopaminergic (mdDA neurons located in the substantia nigra compacta (SNc and ventral tegmental area (VTA follow a number of stages marked by distinct events. After preparation of the region by signals that provide induction and patterning, several transcription factors have been identified, which are involved in specifying the neuronal fate of these cells. The specific vulnerability of SNc neurons is thought to root in these specific developmental programs. The present study examines the positions of young postmitotic mdDA neurons to relate developmental position to mdDA subset specific markers. MdDA neurons were mapped relative to the neuromeric domains (prosomeres 1-3 (P1-3, midbrain, and hindbrain as well as the longitudinal subdivisions (floor plate, basal plate, alar plate, as proposed by the prosomeric model. We found that postmitotic mdDA neurons are located mainly in the floorplate domain and very few in slightly more lateral domains. Moreover, mdDA neurons are present along a large proportion of the anterior/posterior axis extending from the midbrain to P3 in the diencephalon. The specific positions relate to some extent to the presence of specific subset markers as Ahd2. In the adult stage more of such subsets specific expressed genes are present and may represent a molecular map defining molecularly distinct groups of mdDA neurons.

Mother-Child Interaction and Resilience in Children with Early Developmental Risk

Science.gov (United States)

Fenning, Rachel M.; Baker, Jason K.

2014-01-01

Although prenatal and genetic factors make strong contributions to the emergence of intellectual disability (ID), children's early environment may have the potential to alter developmental trajectories and to foster resilience in children with early risk. The present study examined mother-child interaction and the promotion of competence in 50 children with early developmental delays. Three related but distinct aspects of mother-child interaction were considered: maternal technical scaffolding, maternal positive-sensitivity, and mother-child dyadic pleasure. Children were classified as exhibiting undifferentiated delays at age three based upon performance on developmental assessments and the absence of known genetic syndromes. Mother-child interaction was assessed at age four through observational ratings of structured laboratory tasks and through naturalistic home observations. ID was identified at age five using the dual criteria of clinically significant delays in cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior. Maternal technical scaffolding and dyadic pleasure each uniquely predicted reduced likelihood of later ID, beyond the contributions of children's early developmental level and behavioral functioning. Follow-up analyses suggested that mother-child interaction was primarily important to resilience in the area of adaptive behavior, with scaffolding and dyadic pleasure differentially associated with particular sub-domains. Implications for theories of intellectual disability and for family-based early intervention and prevention efforts are discussed. PMID:22662771

Fictitious domain methods for elliptic problems with general boundary conditions with an application to the numerical simulation of two phase flows; Methodes de domaine fictif pour des problemes elliptiques avec conditions aux limites generales en vue de la simulation numerique d'ecoulements diphasiques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramiere, I

2006-09-15

This work is dedicated to the introduction of two original fictitious domain methods for the resolution of elliptic problems (mainly convection-diffusion problems) with general and eventually mixed boundary conditions: Dirichlet, Robin or Neumann. The originality lies in the approximation of the immersed boundary by an approximate interface derived from the fictitious domain Cartesian mesh, which is generally not boundary-fitted to the physical domain. The same generic numerical scheme is used to impose the embedded boundary conditions. Hence, these methods require neither a surface mesh of the immersed boundary nor the local modification of the numerical scheme. We study two modelling of the immersed boundary. In the first one, called spread interface, the approximate immersed boundary is the union of the cells crossed by the physical immersed boundary. In the second one, called thin interface, the approximate immersed boundary lies on sides of mesh cells. Additional algebraic transmission conditions linking both flux and solution jumps through the thin approximate interface are introduced. The fictitious problem to solve as well as the treatment of the embedded boundary conditions are detailed for the two methods. A Q1 finite element scheme is implemented for the numerical validation of the spread interface approach while a new cell-centered finite volume scheme is derived for the thin interface approach with immersed jumps. Each method is then combined to multilevel local mesh refinement algorithms (with solution or flux residual) to increase the precision of the solution in the vicinity of the immersed interface. A convergence analysis of a Q1 finite element method with non-boundary fitted meshes is also presented. This study proves the convergence rates of the present methods. Among the various industrial applications, the simulation on a model of heat exchanger in french nuclear power plants enables us to appreciate the performances of the fictitious domain

Neuroimaging studies of practice-related change: fMRI and meta-analytic evidence of a domain-general control network for learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Chein, Jason M; Schneider, Walter

2005-12-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging and a meta-analysis of prior neuroimaging studies were used to characterize cortical changes resulting from extensive practice and to evaluate a dual-processing account of the neural mechanisms underlying human learning. Three core predictions of the dual processing theory are evaluated: 1) that practice elicits generalized reductions in regional activity by reducing the load on the cognitive control mechanisms that scaffold early learning; 2) that these control mechanisms are domain-general; and 3) that no separate processing pathway emerges as skill develops. To evaluate these predictions, a meta-analysis of prior neuroimaging studies and a within-subjects fMRI experiment contrasting unpracticed to practiced performance in a paired-associate task were conducted. The principal effect of practice was found to be a reduction in the extent and magnitude of activity in a cortical network spanning bilateral dorsal prefrontal, left ventral prefrontal, medial frontal (anterior cingulate), left insular, bilateral parietal, and occipito-temporal (fusiform) areas. These activity reductions are shown to occur in common regions across prior neuroimaging studies and for both verbal and nonverbal paired-associate learning in the present fMRI experiment. The implicated network of brain regions is interpreted as a domain-general system engaged specifically to support novice, but not practiced, performance.

77 FR 14838 - General Electric-Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment LLC, Commercial Laser-Based Uranium Enrichment...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-13

... Laser Enrichment LLC, Commercial Laser-Based Uranium Enrichment Facility, Wilmington, North Carolina... a license to General Electric-Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment LLC (GLE or the applicant) to authorize construction of a laser-based uranium enrichment facility and possession and use of byproduct...

Let's Talk about Sex: Recommendations for Educating Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Minch, Laura M.

2011-01-01

Individuals with developmental disabilities are vulnerable to sexual abuse, and are often denied access to sexuality education. Public schools have vague curricula regarding sexuality education for general education students, curricula to which adolescents with developmental disabilities do not have access. The current study sought to determine…

Visual arts training is linked to flexible attention to local and global levels of visual stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Chamberlain, Rebecca; Wagemans, Johan

2015-10-01

Observational drawing skill has been shown to be associated with the ability to focus on local visual details. It is unclear whether superior performance in local processing is indicative of the ability to attend to, and flexibly switch between, local and global levels of visual stimuli. It is also unknown whether these attentional enhancements remain specific to observational drawing skill or are a product of a wide range of artistic activities. The current study aimed to address these questions by testing if flexible visual processing predicts artistic group membership and observational drawing skill in a sample of first-year bachelor's degree art students (n=23) and non-art students (n=23). A pattern of local and global visual processing enhancements was found in relation to artistic group membership and drawing skill, with local processing ability found to be specifically related to individual differences in drawing skill. Enhanced global processing and more fluent switching between local and global levels of hierarchical stimuli predicted both drawing skill and artistic group membership, suggesting that these are beneficial attentional mechanisms for art-making in a range of domains. These findings support a top-down attentional model of artistic expertise and shed light on the domain specific and domain-general attentional enhancements induced by proficiency in the visual arts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

On the structure of order domains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geil, Olav; Pellikaan, Ruud

2002-01-01

The notion of an order domain is generalized. The behaviour of an order domain by taking a subalgebra, the extension of scalars, and the tensor product is studied. The relation of an order domain with valuation theory, Gröbner algebras, and graded structures is given. The theory of Gröbner bases...... for order domains is developed and used to show that the factor ring theorem and its converse, the presentation theorem, hold. The dimension of an order domain is related to the rank of its value semigroup....

Early motor developmental milestones and level of neuroticism in young adulthood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flensborg-Madsen, Trine; Sørensen, Holger Jelling; Revsbech, Rasmus

2012-01-01

intelligence. CONCLUSIONS: The findings are the first of their kind and suggest that delays in early motor development may not only characterize psychopathological disorders such as schizophrenia, but may also be associated with the personality dimension of neuroticism in adulthood.......BACKGROUND: Studies investigating early developmental factors in relation to psychopathology have mainly focused on schizophrenia. The personality dimension of neuroticism seems to be a general risk factor for psychopathology, but evidence on associations between early developmental precursors...... and personality traits is almost non-existent. This study is therefore the first to investigate associations between early motor developmental milestones and neuroticism in adulthood. Method Mothers of 9125 children of the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort recorded 12 developmental milestones during the child's first...

The Interplay between Emotion and Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Implications for Developmental Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Gaigg, Sebastian B.

2012-01-01

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is clinically defined by abnormalities in reciprocal social and communicative behaviors and an inflexible adherence to routinised patterns of thought and behavior. Laboratory studies repeatedly demonstrate that autistic individuals experience difficulties in recognizing and understanding the emotional expressions of others and naturalistic observations show that they use such expressions infrequently and inappropriately to regulate social exchanges. Dominant theories attribute this facet of the ASD phenotype to abnormalities in a social brain network that mediates social-motivational and social-cognitive processes such as face processing, mental state understanding, and empathy. Such theories imply that only emotion related processes relevant to social cognition are compromised in ASD but accumulating evidence suggests that the disorder may be characterized by more widespread anomalies in the domain of emotions. In this review I summarize the relevant literature and argue that the social-emotional characteristics of ASD may be better understood in terms of a disruption in the domain-general interplay between emotion and cognition. More specifically I will suggest that ASD is the developmental consequence of early emerging anomalies in how emotional responses to the environment modulate a wide range of cognitive processes including those that are relevant to navigating the social world. PMID:23316143

The interplay between emotion and cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Implications for developmental theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian B Gaigg

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is clinically defined by abnormalities in reciprocal social and communicative behaviours and an inflexible adherence to routinised patterns of thought and behaviour. Laboratory studies repeatedly demonstrate that autistic individuals experience difficulties in recognising and understanding the emotional expressions of others and naturalistic observations show that they use such expressions infrequently and inappropriately to regulate social exchanges. Dominant theories attribute this facet of the ASD phenotype to abnormalities in a social brain network that mediates social-motivational and social-cognitive processes such as face processing, mental state understanding and empathy. Such theories imply that only emotion related processes relevant to social cognition are compromised in ASD but accumulating evidence suggests that the disorder may be characterised by more widespread anomalies in the domain of emotions. In this review I summarise the relevant literature and argue that the social-emotional characteristics of ASD may be better understood in terms of a disruption in the domain-general interplay between emotion and cognition. More specifically I will suggest that ASD is the developmental consequence of early-emerging anomalies in how emotional responses to the environment modulate a wide range of cognitive processes including those that are relevant to navigating the social world.

The Interplay between Emotion and Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Implications for Developmental Theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaigg, Sebastian B

2012-01-01

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is clinically defined by abnormalities in reciprocal social and communicative behaviors and an inflexible adherence to routinised patterns of thought and behavior. Laboratory studies repeatedly demonstrate that autistic individuals experience difficulties in recognizing and understanding the emotional expressions of others and naturalistic observations show that they use such expressions infrequently and inappropriately to regulate social exchanges. Dominant theories attribute this facet of the ASD phenotype to abnormalities in a social brain network that mediates social-motivational and social-cognitive processes such as face processing, mental state understanding, and empathy. Such theories imply that only emotion related processes relevant to social cognition are compromised in ASD but accumulating evidence suggests that the disorder may be characterized by more widespread anomalies in the domain of emotions. In this review I summarize the relevant literature and argue that the social-emotional characteristics of ASD may be better understood in terms of a disruption in the domain-general interplay between emotion and cognition. More specifically I will suggest that ASD is the developmental consequence of early emerging anomalies in how emotional responses to the environment modulate a wide range of cognitive processes including those that are relevant to navigating the social world.

The rise and manifestation of globalism and its implications for science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E.J. van Niekerk

1995-03-01

Full Text Available The rise and manifestation of globalism and its implicationsfor science. The concept globalism refers to the interdependent and interconnected character of the contemporary world. One of the characteristics of the globalistic world order is that it is a threat unto itself This threat is manifested in numerous global crises such as the population explosion, the extensive developmental disparities between First and Third World countries, the energy crisis, atomic warfare and the environmental crisis. Humanity has brought these and other global crises upon itself by the advancement of the modern (Western industrial civilisation which emanated from the absolutised application of the natural scientific mode of thought. In order to defend the thesis that the phenomenon of globalisation has profound implications for scientific practice, it is necessary to present a historical overview of the rise of globalism and an interpretation of its current manifestation. From these aspects one can deduce the significant implications that this phenomenon has for scientific practice. General features of a more accountable mode of scientific thought are also presented. Finally, Temporality Agogics, a paradigm within the context o f History of Education, is discussed as an example o f such a more accountable mode of scientific practice.

Developmental differences in the neural mechanisms of facial emotion labeling.

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Wiggins, Jillian Lee; Adleman, Nancy E; Kim, Pilyoung; Oakes, Allison H; Hsu, Derek; Reynolds, Richard C; Chen, Gang; Pine, Daniel S; Brotman, Melissa A; Leibenluft, Ellen

2016-01-01

Adolescence is a time of increased risk for the onset of psychological disorders associated with deficits in face emotion labeling. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine age-related differences in brain activation while adolescents and adults labeled the emotion on fearful, happy and angry faces of varying intensities [0% (i.e. neutral), 50%, 75%, 100%]. Adolescents and adults did not differ on accuracy to label emotions. In the superior temporal sulcus, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and middle temporal gyrus, adults show an inverted-U-shaped response to increasing intensities of fearful faces and a U-shaped response to increasing intensities of happy faces, whereas adolescents show the opposite patterns. In addition, adults, but not adolescents, show greater inferior occipital gyrus activation to negative (angry, fearful) vs positive (happy) emotions. In sum, when subjects classify subtly varying facial emotions, developmental differences manifest in several 'ventral stream' brain regions. Charting the typical developmental course of the brain mechanisms of socioemotional processes, such as facial emotion labeling, is an important focus for developmental psychopathology research. Published by Oxford University Press 2015. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

Scientific reasoning in early and middle childhood: the development of domain-general evidence evaluation, experimentation, and hypothesis generation skills.

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Piekny, Jeanette; Maehler, Claudia

2013-06-01

According to Klahr's (2000, 2005; Klahr & Dunbar, 1988) Scientific Discovery as Dual Search model, inquiry processes require three cognitive components: hypothesis generation, experimentation, and evidence evaluation. The aim of the present study was to investigate (a) when the ability to evaluate perfect covariation, imperfect covariation, and non-covariation evidence emerges, (b) when experimentation emerges, (c) when hypothesis generation skills emerge, and (d), whether these abilities develop synchronously during childhood. We administered three scientific reasoning tasks referring to the three components to 223 children of five age groups (from age 4.0 to 13.5 years). Our results show that the three cognitive components of domain-general scientific reasoning emerge asynchronously. The development of domain-general scientific reasoning begins with the ability to handle unambiguous data, progresses to the interpretation of ambiguous data, and leads to a flexible adaptation of hypotheses according to the sufficiency of evidence. When children understand the relation between the level of ambiguity of evidence and the level of confidence in hypotheses, the ability to differentiate conclusive from inconclusive experiments accompanies this development. Implications of these results for designing science education concepts for young children are briefly discussed. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.

College Online Developmental Reading Instruction: Creating a Path to Independent and Active Learning

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Johnson, E. Janet

2010-01-01

Online courses require students to be independent readers and efficient learners. College students who need developmental reading lack these qualities; consequently, faculty do not generally view developmental reading courses as appropriate for an online format. However, an effectively designed online course based on best practices can engage less…

I. INTRODUCTION: MOVING THROUGH ADOLESCENCE: DEVELOPMENTAL TRAJECTORIES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN AMERICAN YOUTH.

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Gutman, Leslie Morrison; Peck, Stephen C; Malanchuk, Oksana; Sameroff, Arnold J; Eccles, Jacquelynne S

2017-12-01

In this monograph, we investigate the developmental trajectories of a predominantly middle-class, community-based sample of European American and African American adolescents growing up in urban, suburban, and rural areas in Maryland, United States. Within risk-protection and positive youth development frameworks, we selected developmental measures based on the normative tasks of adolescence and the most widely studied indicators in the three major contexts of development: families, peer groups, and schools. Using hierarchical linear growth models, we estimated adolescents' growth trajectories from ages 12 to 20 with variation accounted for by socioeconomic status (SES), gender, race/ethnicity, and the gender by race/ethnicity interaction. In general, the results indicate that: (a) periods of greatest risk and positive development depended on the time frame and outcome being examined and (b) on average, these adolescents demonstrated much stronger evidence of positive than problematic development, even at their most vulnerable times. Absolute levels of their engagement in healthy behaviors, supportive relationships with parents and friends, and positive self-perceptions and psychological well-being were much higher than their reported angry and depressive feelings, engagement in risky behaviors, and negative relationships with parents and peers. We did not find evidence to support the idea that adolescence is a time of heightened risk. Rather, on average, these adolescents experienced relatively stable and developmentally healthy trajectories for a wide range of characteristics, behaviors, and relationships, with slight increases or decreases at different points in development that varied according to domain. Developmental trajectories differed minimally by SES but in some expected ways by gender and race/ethnicity, although these latter differences were not very marked. Overall, most of the young people navigated through their adolescence and arrived at young

Dual-systems and the development of reasoning: competence-procedural systems.

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Overton, Willis F; Ricco, Robert B

2011-03-01

Dual-system, dual-process, accounts of adult cognitive processing are examined in the context of a self-organizing relational developmental systems approaches to cognitive growth. Contemporary adult dual-process accounts describe a linear architecture of mind entailing two split-off, but interacting systems; a domain general, content-free 'analytic' system (system 2) and a domain specific highly contextualized 'heuristic' system (system 1). In the developmental literature on deductive reasoning, a similar distinction has been made between a domain general competence (reflective, algorithmic) system and a domain specific procedural system. In contrast to the linear accounts offered by empiricist, nativist, and/or evolutionary explanations, the dual competence-procedural developmental perspective argues that the mature systems emerge through developmental transformations as differentiations and intercoordinations of an early relatively undifferentiated action matrix. This development, whose microscopic mechanism is action-in-the-world, is characterized as being embodied, nonlinear, and epigenetic. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 231-237 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.120 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Climatology of the HOPE-G global ocean general circulation model - Sea ice general circulation model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Legutke, S. [Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum (DKRZ), Hamburg (Germany); Maier-Reimer, E. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany)

1999-12-01

The HOPE-G global ocean general circulation model (OGCM) climatology, obtained in a long-term forced integration is described. HOPE-G is a primitive-equation z-level ocean model which contains a dynamic-thermodynamic sea-ice model. It is formulated on a 2.8 grid with increased resolution in low latitudes in order to better resolve equatorial dynamics. The vertical resolution is 20 layers. The purpose of the integration was both to investigate the models ability to reproduce the observed general circulation of the world ocean and to obtain an initial state for coupled atmosphere - ocean - sea-ice climate simulations. The model was driven with daily mean data of a 15-year integration of the atmosphere general circulation model ECHAM4, the atmospheric component in later coupled runs. Thereby, a maximum of the flux variability that is expected to appear in coupled simulations is included already in the ocean spin-up experiment described here. The model was run for more than 2000 years until a quasi-steady state was achieved. It reproduces the major current systems and the main features of the so-called conveyor belt circulation. The observed distribution of water masses is reproduced reasonably well, although with a saline bias in the intermediate water masses and a warm bias in the deep and bottom water of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The model underestimates the meridional transport of heat in the Atlantic Ocean. The simulated heat transport in the other basins, though, is in good agreement with observations. (orig.)

A developmental screening tool for toddlers with multiple domains based on Rasch analysis

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Ai-Wen Hwang

2015-01-01

Conclusion: MuSiC can be applied simultaneously to well-child care visits as a universal screening tool for children aged 1–3 years on multiple domains. Items with sound validity for infants need to be further developed.

Global features of nucleus-nucleus collisions in ultrarelativistic domain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savina, M.V.; Shmatov, S.V.; Slavin, N.V.; Zarubin, P.I.

1998-01-01

HIJING generator simulation of nucleus-nucleus collisions at ultrarelativistic energies is presented. It is shown that the global characteristics of nucleus-nucleus collisions, such as distribution of a charged multiplicity, total and electromagnetic transverse energy over pseudorapidity are rather sensitive to some predictions of models of high-exited nuclear medium formation, namely parton energy losses in dense nuclear matter. These losses result in appearance of a broad maximum in global variable distributions over pseudorapidity. The most profound of this effect occurs at central heavy ion collisions at LHC energy

Applying a Lifespan Developmental Perspective to Chronic Pain: Pediatrics to Geriatrics.

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Walco, Gary A; Krane, Elliot J; Schmader, Kenneth E; Weiner, Debra K

2016-09-01

An ideal taxonomy of chronic pain would be applicable to people of all ages. Developmental sciences focus on lifespan developmental approaches, and view the trajectory of processes in the life course from birth to death. In this article we provide a review of lifespan developmental models, describe normal developmental processes that affect pain processing, and identify deviations from those processes that lead to stable individual differences of clinical interest, specifically the development of chronic pain syndromes. The goals of this review were 1) to unify what are currently separate purviews of "pediatric pain," "adult pain," and "geriatric pain," and 2) to generate models so that specific elements of the chronic pain taxonomy might include important developmental considerations. A lifespan developmental model is applied to the forthcoming Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations, Innovations, Opportunities, and Networks-American Pain Society Pain Taxonomy to ascertain the degree to which general "adult" descriptions apply to pediatric and geriatric populations, or if age- or development-related considerations need to be invoked. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Moral Education in an Age of Globalization

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Noddings, Nel

2010-01-01

Care theory is used to describe an approach to global ethics and moral education. After a brief introduction to care ethics, the theory is applied to global ethics. The paper concludes with a discussion of moral education for personal, political, and global domains.

Transcriptomics-based identification of developmental toxicants through their interference with cardiomyocyte differentiation of embryonic stem cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dartel, Dorien A.M. van; Pennings, Jeroen L.A.; Schooten, Frederik J. van; Piersma, Aldert H.

2010-01-01

The embryonic stem cell test (EST) predicts developmental toxicity based on the inhibition of cardiomyocyte differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESC). The subjective endpoint, the long culture duration together with the undefined applicability domain and related predictivity need further improvement to facilitate implementation of the EST into regulatory strategies. These aspects may be improved by studying gene expression changes in the ESC differentiation cultures and their modulation by compound exposure using transcriptomics. Here, we tested the developmental toxicants monobutyl phthalate and 6-aminonicotinamide. ESC were allowed to differentiated, and cardiomyocyte differentiation was assessed after 10 days of culture. RNA of solvent controls was collected after 0, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h of exposure, and RNA of developmental-toxicant-exposed cultures was collected after 24 and 96 h. Samples were hybridized to DNA microarrays, and 1355 genes were found differentially expressed among the unexposed experimental groups. These regulated genes were involved in differentiation-related processes, and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) based on these genes showed that the unexposed experimental groups appeared in chronological order in the PCA, which can therefore be regarded as a continuous representation of the differentiation track. The developmental-toxicant-exposed cultures appeared to deviate significantly from this differentiation track, which confirms the compound-modulating effects on the differentiation process. The incorporation of transcriptomics in the EST is expected to provide a more informative and improved endpoint in the EST as compared with morphology, allowing early detection of differentiation modulation. Furthermore, this approach may improve the definition of the applicability domain and predictivity of the EST.

A novel missense mutation in the HECT domain of NEDD4L identified in a girl with periventricular nodular heterotopia, polymicrogyria and cleft palate.

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Kato, Koji; Miya, Fuyuki; Hori, Ikumi; Ieda, Daisuke; Ohashi, Kei; Negishi, Yutaka; Hattori, Ayako; Okamoto, Nobuhiko; Kato, Mitsuhiro; Tsunoda, Tatsuhiko; Yamasaki, Mami; Kanemura, Yonehiro; Kosaki, Kenjiro; Saitoh, Shinji

2017-09-01

We identified a novel de novo heterozygous missense mutation in the NEDD4L gene (NM_015277: c.2617G>A; p.Glu873Lys) through whole-exome sequencing in a 3-year-old girl showing severe global developmental delay, infantile spasms, cleft palate, periventricular nodular heterotopia and polymicrogyria. Mutations in the HECT domain of NEDD4L have been reported in patients with a neurodevelopmental disorder along with similar brain malformations. All patients reported with NEDD4L HECT domain mutations showed periventricular nodular heterotopia, and most had seizures, cortex anomalies, cleft palate and syndactyly. The unique constellation of clinical features in patients with NEDD4L mutations might help clinically distinguish them from patients with other genetic mutations including FLNA, which is a well-known causative gene of periventricular nodular heterotopia. Although mutations in the HECT domain of NEDD4L that lead to AKT-mTOR pathway deregulation in forced expression system were reported, our western blot analysis did not show an increased level of AKT-mTOR activity in lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) derived from the patient. In contrast to the forced overexpression system, AKT-mTOR pathway deregulation in LCLs derived from our patient seems to be subtle.

The Link between Logic, Mathematics and Imagination: Evidence from Children with Developmental Dyscalculia and Mathematically Gifted Children

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Morsanyi, Kinga; Devine, Amy; Nobes, Alison; Szucs, Denes

2013-01-01

This study examined performance on transitive inference problems in children with developmental dyscalculia (DD), typically developing controls matched on IQ, working memory and reading skills, and in children with outstanding mathematical abilities. Whereas mainstream approaches currently consider DD as a domain-specific deficit, we hypothesized…

Domain-Specific Control of Selective Attention

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Lin, Szu-Hung; Yeh, Yei-Yu

2014-01-01

Previous research has shown that loading information on working memory affects selective attention. However, whether the load effect on selective attention is domain-general or domain-specific remains unresolved. The domain-general effect refers to the findings that load in one content (e.g. phonological) domain in working memory influences processing in another content (e.g., visuospatial) domain. Attentional control supervises selection regardless of information domain. The domain-specific effect refers to the constraint of influence only when maintenance and processing operate in the same domain. Selective attention operates in a specific content domain. This study is designed to resolve this controversy. Across three experiments, we manipulated the type of representation maintained in working memory and the type of representation upon which the participants must exert control to resolve conflict and select a target into the focus of attention. In Experiments 1a and 1b, participants maintained digits and nonverbalized objects, respectively, in working memory while selecting a target in a letter array. In Experiment 2, we presented auditory digits with a letter flanker task to exclude the involvement of resource competition within the same input modality. In Experiments 3a and 3b, we replaced the letter flanker task with an object flanker task while manipulating the memory load on object and digit representation, respectively. The results consistently showed that memory load modulated distractibility only when the stimuli of the two tasks were represented in the same domain. The magnitude of distractor interference was larger under high load than under low load, reflecting a lower efficacy of information prioritization. When the stimuli of the two tasks were represented in different domains, memory load did not modulate distractibility. Control of processing priority in selective attention demands domain-specific resources. PMID:24866977

I. DEVELOPMENTAL METHODOLOGY AS A CENTRAL SUBDISCIPLINE OF DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE.

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Card, Noel A

2017-06-01

This first chapter introduces the main goals of the monograph and previews the remaining chapters. The goals of this monograph are to provide summaries of our current understanding of advanced developmental methodologies, provide information that can advance our understanding of human development, identify shortcomings in our understanding of developmental methodology, and serve as a flagpost for organizing developmental methodology as a subdiscipline within the broader field of developmental science. The remaining chapters in this monograph address issues in design (sampling and big data), longitudinal data analysis, and issues of replication and research accumulation. The final chapter describes the history of developmental methodology, considers how the previous chapters in this monograph fit within this subdiscipline, and offers recommendations for further advancement. © 2017 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Global climate change--The technology challenge: China

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Population growth and developmental pressures, spawned by an increasing demand for resource intensive goods, foods and services, are altering the planet in ways that threaten the long-term well-being of humans and other species. Global climate change and its associated impacts is...

A scientometric study of general internal medicine domain among muslim countries of middle East (1991 - 2011).

Science.gov (United States)

Hodhodinezhad, Niloofar; Zahedi, Razieh; Ashrafi-rizzi, Hassan; Shams, Asadollah

2013-03-01

The position of General Internal Medicine in the Islamic countries in the Middle East has been investigated in the present study. The scientific productions of the countries in the area on Web of science database during 1990-2011 constitute were examined. The result of the survey showed that the share of these countries in world scientific productions is very low. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran are the first to third ones in this domain in order. In view of annual growth rate, Kuwait having high growth rate, is the first one. Libya and Syria are the next ones. The scientific poverty line of Islamic countries in the area was surveyed. The result showed that in view of the scientific poverty line, the highest is Kuwait with the population of 0.04 percent of the world. Next to it, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are the second and third ones. The results of this research showed that the share of Islamic countries in the Middle East in scientific production of this medicine domain is very low. It needs to be paid more attention by the countries in the area.

Critical differences between elective and emergency surgery: identifying domains for quality improvement in emergency general surgery.

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Columbus, Alexandra B; Morris, Megan A; Lilley, Elizabeth J; Harlow, Alyssa F; Haider, Adil H; Salim, Ali; Havens, Joaquim M

2018-04-01

The objective of our study was to characterize providers' impressions of factors contributing to disproportionate rates of morbidity and mortality in emergency general surgery to identify targets for care quality improvement. Emergency general surgery is characterized by a high-cost burden and disproportionate morbidity and mortality. Factors contributing to these observed disparities are not comprehensively understood and targets for quality improvement have not been formally developed. Using a grounded theory approach, emergency general surgery providers were recruited through purposive-criterion-based sampling to participate in semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Participants were asked to identify contributors to emergency general surgery outcomes, to define effective care for EGS patients, and to describe operating room team structure. Interviews were performed to thematic saturation. Transcripts were iteratively coded and analyzed within and across cases to identify emergent themes. Member checking was performed to establish credibility of the findings. A total of 40 participants from 5 academic hospitals participated in either individual interviews (n = 25 [9 anesthesia, 12 surgery, 4 nursing]) or focus groups (n = 2 [15 nursing]). Emergency general surgery was characterized by an exceptionally high level of variability, which can be subcategorized as patient-variability (acute physiology and comorbidities) and system-variability (operating room resources and workforce). Multidisciplinary communication is identified as a modifier to variability in emergency general surgery; however, nursing is often left out of early communication exchanges. Critical variability in emergency general surgery may impact outcomes. Patient-variability and system-variability, with focus on multidisciplinary communication, represent potential domains for quality improvement in this field. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Africa's Quest for Developmental States: 'renaissance' for whom?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shaw, Timothy Milton

2012-01-01

After a generally disappointing half-century since recapturing formal independence, at the turn of the second decade of the 21st century, Africa(s) may now be able to seize unanticipated emerging opportunities to move from `fragile' or `failed' towards `developmental' political economies. The con...

Research Review: A Critical Review of Studies on the Developmental Trajectories of Antisocial Behavior in Females

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Fontaine, Nathalie; Carbonneau, Rene; Vitaro, Frank; Barker, Edward D.; Tremblay, Richard E.

2009-01-01

Background: Knowledge on the onset and the development of antisocial behavior in females is limited, because most of the research in this domain is based on males. Methods: We critically reviewed 46 empirical studies that examined developmental trajectories of antisocial behavior in females, notably to help determine whether or not an…

Teaching in a play-based curriculum: Theory, practice and evidence of Developmental Education for young children.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Oers, B.; Duijkers, D.

2012-01-01

This article focuses on the possibilities of teaching in a play-based curriculum, which has become an issue of international relevance. As a domain of study, the Developmental Education approach was taken in the early grades of Dutch primary schools (grades 1-4, ages 4-8). The article describes the

Utility of Small Animal Models of Developmental Programming.

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Reynolds, Clare M; Vickers, Mark H

2018-01-01

Any effective strategy to tackle the global obesity and rising noncommunicable disease epidemic requires an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms that underlie these conditions that manifest as a consequence of complex gene-environment interactions. In this context, it is now well established that alterations in the early life environment, including suboptimal nutrition, can result in an increased risk for a range of metabolic, cardiovascular, and behavioral disorders in later life, a process preferentially termed developmental programming. To date, most of the mechanistic knowledge around the processes underpinning development programming has been derived from preclinical research performed mostly, but not exclusively, in laboratory mouse and rat strains. This review will cover the utility of small animal models in developmental programming, the limitations of such models, and potential future directions that are required to fully maximize information derived from preclinical models in order to effectively translate to clinical use.

Improvement in Protein Domain Identification Is Reached by Breaking Consensus, with the Agreement of Many Profiles and Domain Co-occurrence.

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Juliana Bernardes

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Traditional protein annotation methods describe known domains with probabilistic models representing consensus among homologous domain sequences. However, when relevant signals become too weak to be identified by a global consensus, attempts for annotation fail. Here we address the fundamental question of domain identification for highly divergent proteins. By using high performance computing, we demonstrate that the limits of state-of-the-art annotation methods can be bypassed. We design a new strategy based on the observation that many structural and functional protein constraints are not globally conserved through all species but might be locally conserved in separate clades. We propose a novel exploitation of the large amount of data available: 1. for each known protein domain, several probabilistic clade-centered models are constructed from a large and differentiated panel of homologous sequences, 2. a decision-making protocol combines outcomes obtained from multiple models, 3. a multi-criteria optimization algorithm finds the most likely protein architecture. The method is evaluated for domain and architecture prediction over several datasets and statistical testing hypotheses. Its performance is compared against HMMScan and HHblits, two widely used search methods based on sequence-profile and profile-profile comparison. Due to their closeness to actual protein sequences, clade-centered models are shown to be more specific and functionally predictive than the broadly used consensus models. Based on them, we improved annotation of Plasmodium falciparum protein sequences on a scale not previously possible. We successfully predict at least one domain for 72% of P. falciparum proteins against 63% achieved previously, corresponding to 30% of improvement over the total number of Pfam domain predictions on the whole genome. The method is applicable to any genome and opens new avenues to tackle evolutionary questions such as the reconstruction of

Charles Darwin and the origins of plant evolutionary developmental biology.

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Friedman, William E; Diggle, Pamela K

2011-04-01

Much has been written of the early history of comparative embryology and its influence on the emergence of an evolutionary developmental perspective. However, this literature, which dates back nearly a century, has been focused on metazoans, without acknowledgment of the contributions of comparative plant morphologists to the creation of a developmental view of biodiversity. We trace the origin of comparative plant developmental morphology from its inception in the eighteenth century works of Wolff and Goethe, through the mid nineteenth century discoveries of the general principles of leaf and floral organ morphogenesis. Much like the stimulus that von Baer provided as a nonevolutionary comparative embryologist to the creation of an evolutionary developmental view of animals, the comparative developmental studies of plant morphologists were the basis for the first articulation of the concept that plant (namely floral) evolution results from successive modifications of ontogeny. Perhaps most surprisingly, we show that the first person to carefully read and internalize the remarkable advances in the understanding of plant morphogenesis in the 1840s and 1850s is none other than Charles Darwin, whose notebooks, correspondence, and (then) unpublished manuscripts clearly demonstrate that he had discovered the developmental basis for the evolutionary transformation of plant form.

Measurement Invariance of Early Development Instrument (EDI) Domain Scores across Gender and ESL Status

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Mousavi, Amin; Krishnan, Vijaya

2016-01-01

The Early Development Instrument (EDI) is a widely used teacher rating tool to assess kindergartners' developmental outcomes in Canada and a number of other countries. This paper examines the measurement invariance of EDI domains across ESL status and gender by means of multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. The results suggest evidence of…

The finite dimensional behaviour of the global attractors for the generalized Landau-Lifshitz equation on compact manifolds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Boling

1994-01-01

We prove the existence of the global attractors for the generalized Landau-Lifshitz equation on compact manifold M, and give the upper and lower estimates of their Hausdorff and fractal dimensions. (author). 18 refs

Fictitious domain methods for elliptic problems with general boundary conditions with an application to the numerical simulation of two phase flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramiere, I.

2006-09-01

This work is dedicated to the introduction of two original fictitious domain methods for the resolution of elliptic problems (mainly convection-diffusion problems) with general and eventually mixed boundary conditions: Dirichlet, Robin or Neumann. The originality lies in the approximation of the immersed boundary by an approximate interface derived from the fictitious domain Cartesian mesh, which is generally not boundary-fitted to the physical domain. The same generic numerical scheme is used to impose the embedded boundary conditions. Hence, these methods require neither a surface mesh of the immersed boundary nor the local modification of the numerical scheme. We study two modelling of the immersed boundary. In the first one, called spread interface, the approximate immersed boundary is the union of the cells crossed by the physical immersed boundary. In the second one, called thin interface, the approximate immersed boundary lies on sides of mesh cells. Additional algebraic transmission conditions linking both flux and solution jumps through the thin approximate interface are introduced. The fictitious problem to solve as well as the treatment of the embedded boundary conditions are detailed for the two methods. A Q1 finite element scheme is implemented for the numerical validation of the spread interface approach while a new cell-centered finite volume scheme is derived for the thin interface approach with immersed jumps. Each method is then combined to multilevel local mesh refinement algorithms (with solution or flux residual) to increase the precision of the solution in the vicinity of the immersed interface. A convergence analysis of a Q1 finite element method with non-boundary fitted meshes is also presented. This study proves the convergence rates of the present methods. Among the various industrial applications, the simulation on a model of heat exchanger in french nuclear power plants enables us to appreciate the performances of the fictitious domain

Examining Developmental Transitions in Civic Engagement across Adolescence: Evidence from a National U.S. Sample

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Wray-Lake, Laura; Rote, Wendy M.; Benavides, Celina M.; Victorino, Christine

2014-01-01

Describing how much and what type(s) of change are evident in civic engagement across adolescence is a fundamental starting point for advancing developmental theory in the civic domain. Using five annual waves of data from a large national U.S. sample spanning 8th-12th grades, our study describes civic engagement typologies and transitions in and…

Autism in community pre-schoolers: developmental profiles.

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Kantzer, Anne-Katrin; Fernell, Elisabeth; Gillberg, Christopher; Miniscalco, Carmela

2013-09-01

Autism is often a complex developmental disorder. The aim of the present study was to describe the developmental characteristics of 129 1-4-year-old children (102 boys, 27 girls) referred for clinical assessment (mean age 2.9 years) due to suspicion of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) after community screening at Child Health Care centers. All children were clinically assessed at the Child Neuropsychiatry Clinic (CNC) in Gothenburg by a research team (neurodevelopmental examination, structured interviews and general cognitive and language examinations). Of the 129 children, 100 met diagnostic criteria for ASD (69 with autistic disorder, and 31 with atypical autism/pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified). The remaining 29 children had a variety of developmental disorders, most often attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), language disorder, borderline intellectual functioning, and intellectual developmental disorder (IDD) with (n=25) or without (n=4) autistic traits (AT). IDD was found in 36% of the 100 children with ASD, and in 4% of the 25 children with AT. Of the children with ASD, 56% had language disorder with no or just a few words at the initial assessment at the CNC, many of whom in combination with IDD. Hyperactivity was found in 37% of those with ASD and in 40% of those with AT. Epilepsy was found in 6% of the total group and in 7% of those with a diagnosis of ASD. Of the latter group 11% had a history of regression, while none of the AT cases had a similar background. When results were compared with a non-screened preschool ASD group of 208 children, referred for ASD intervention at a mean age of 3.4 years, very similar developmental profiles were seen. In conclusion, early community ASD screening appears to systematically identify those children who are in need of intervention and follow-up. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developmental and genetic determinants of leadership role occupancy among women.

Science.gov (United States)

Arvey, Richard D; Zhang, Zhen; Avolio, Bruce J; Krueger, Robert F

2007-05-01

The genetic and developmental influences on leadership role occupancy were investigated using a sample of 178 fraternal and 214 identical female twins. Two general developmental factors were identified, one involving formal work experiences and the other a family experiences factor hypothesized to influence whether women move into positions of leadership in organizations. Results indicated that 32% of the variance in leadership role occupancy was associated with heritability. The 2 developmental factors also showed significant correlations with leadership role occupancy. However, after genetic factors were partialed out, only the work experience factor was significantly related to leadership role occupancy. Results are discussed in terms of prior life events and experiences that may trigger leadership development and the limitations of this study. 2007 APA, all rights reserved

Unequally redundant RCD1 and SRO1 mediate stress and developmental responses and interact with transcription factors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jaspers, P.; Blomster, T.; Brosché, M.; Salojärvi, J.; Ahlfors, R.; Vainonen, J.P.; Reddy, R.A.; Immink, G.H.; Angenent, G.C.; Turck, F.; Overmyer, K.; Kangasjärvi, J.

2009-01-01

RADICAL-INDUCED CELL DEATH1 (RCD1) is an important regulator of stress and hormonal and developmental responses in Arabidopsis thaliana. Together with its closest homolog, SIMILAR TO RCD-ONE1 (SRO1), it is the only Arabidopsis protein containing the WWE domain, which is known to mediate

Developmental Trajectories of Male Physical Violence and Theft

Science.gov (United States)

Barker, Edward D.; Séguin, Jean R.; White, Helene Raskin; Bates, Marsha E.; Lacourse, Éric; Carbonneau, René; Tremblay, Richard E.

2012-01-01

Context Neurocognitive mechanisms have long been hypothesized to influence developmental trajectories of antisocial behavior. However, studies examining this association tend to aggregate a variety of problem behaviors that may be differently affected by neurocognitive deficits. Objective To describe the developmental trajectories of physical violence and theft from adolescence to adulthood, their associations, and the neurocognitive characteristics of individuals following different patterns of trajectory association. Design Accelerated cohort-sequential, longitudinal design. Setting Rutgers Health and Human Development Project. Participants Six hundred ninety-eight men. Main Outcome Measures Self-reports of physical violence (ages 12–24 years) and theft (ages 12–31 years) were collected across 5 waves. Neurocognitive performance was assessed with executive function and verbal IQ tests between late adolescence and early adulthood. Results The majority (55%) of subjects showed an increased frequency of theft during the study period, while only a minority (13%) evinced an increasing frequency of physical violence. Executive function and verbal IQ performance were negatively related to high frequency of physical violence but positively related to high frequency of theft. Conclusions Developmental trajectories of physical violence and theft during adolescence and early adulthood are different and differently related to neurocognitive functioning. Global indexes of antisocial behavior mask the development of antisocial behavior subtypes and putative causal mechanisms. PMID:17485611

KEJAHATAN NAMA DOMAIN BERKAITAN DENGAN MEREK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Nizar

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Indonesia already has an ITE Law governing domain names in general terms and on certain provisions in chapter VI, but the regulation of domain name crimes is not regulated in the ITE Law as mandated in the academic draft of the ITE Bill. The absence of regulation of domain name norm in the ITE Law creates problems with registrant of domain name (registrant which deliberately register the domain name is bad faith. The characteristic of a crime in a domain name relating to the mark is that the registered domain name has an equation in essence with another party’s well-known brand, the act of doing so by exploiting a reputation for well-known or previously commercially valuable names as domain names for addresses for sites (websites it manages. The Prosecutor may include articles of the KUHP in filing his indictment before the Court during the absence of special regulatory provisions concerning domain name crime.

The global financial crisis and Australian general practice.

Science.gov (United States)

McRae, Ian S; Paolucci, Francesco

2011-02-01

To explore the potential effects of the global financial crisis (GFC) on the market for general practitioner (GP) services in Australia. We estimate the impact of changes in unemployment rates on demand for GP services and the impact of lost asset values on GP retirement plans and work patterns. Combining these supply and demand effects, we estimate the potential effect of the GFC on the market for GP services under various scenarios. If deferral of retirement increases GP availability by 2%, and historic trends to reduce GP working hours are halved, at the current level of ~5.2% unemployment average fees would decline by $0.23 per GP consultation and volumes of GP services would rise by 2.53% with almost no change in average GP gross earnings over what would otherwise have occurred. With 8.5% unemployment, as initially predicted by Treasury, GP fees would increase by $0.91 and GP income by nearly 3%. The GFC is likely to increase activity in the GP market and potentially to reduce fee levels relative to the pre-GFC trends. Net effects on average GP incomes are likely to be small at current unemployment levels.

Functional analysis of the global repressor Tup1 for maltose metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: different roles of the functional domains.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Xue; Yu, Ai-Qun; Zhang, Cui-Ying; Pi, Li; Bai, Xiao-Wen; Xiao, Dong-Guang

2017-11-09

Tup1 is a general transcriptional repressor of diverse gene families coordinately controlled by glucose repression, mating type, and other mechanisms in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Several functional domains of Tup1 have been identified, each of which has differing effects on transcriptional repression. In this study, we aim to investigate the role of Tup1 and its domains in maltose metabolism of industrial baker's yeast. To this end, a battery of in-frame truncations in the TUP1 gene coding region were performed in the industrial baker's yeasts with different genetic background, and the maltose metabolism, leavening ability, MAL gene expression levels, and growth characteristics were investigated. The results suggest that the TUP1 gene is essential to maltose metabolism in industrial baker's yeast. Importantly, different domains of Tup1 play different roles in glucose repression and maltose metabolism of industrial baker's yeast cells. The Ssn6 interaction, N-terminal repression and C-terminal repression domains might play roles in the regulation of MAL transcription by Tup1 for maltose metabolism of baker's yeast. The WD region lacking the first repeat could influence the regulation of maltose metabolism directly, rather than indirectly through glucose repression. These findings lay a foundation for the optimization of industrial baker's yeast strains for accelerated maltose metabolism and facilitate future research on glucose repression in other sugar metabolism.

Mutations of PTPN23 in developmental and epileptic encephalopathy

KAUST Repository

Sowada, Nadine

2017-10-31

Developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEE) are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders with poor prognosis. Recent discoveries have greatly expanded the repertoire of genes that are mutated in epileptic encephalopathies and DEE, often in a de novo fashion, but in many patients, the disease remains molecularly uncharacterized. Here, we describe a new form of DEE in patients with likely deleterious biallelic variants in PTPN23. The phenotype is characterized by early onset drug-resistant epilepsy, severe and global developmental delay, microcephaly, and sometimes premature death. PTPN23 encodes a tyrosine phosphatase with strong brain expression, and its knockout in mouse is embryonically lethal. Structural modeling supports a deleterious effect of the identified alleles. Our data suggest that PTPN23 mutations cause a rare severe form of autosomal-recessive DEE in humans, a finding that requires confirmation.

The phonological and visual basis of developmental dyslexia in Brazilian Portuguese reading children

Science.gov (United States)

Germano, Giseli D.; Reilhac, Caroline; Capellini, Simone A.; Valdois, Sylviane

2014-01-01

Evidence from opaque languages suggests that visual attention processing abilities in addition to phonological skills may act as cognitive underpinnings of developmental dyslexia. We explored the role of these two cognitive abilities on reading fluency in Brazilian Portuguese, a more transparent orthography than French or English. Sixty-six children with developmental dyslexia and normal Brazilian Portuguese children participated. They were administered three tasks of phonological skills (phoneme identification, phoneme, and syllable blending) and three visual tasks (a letter global report task and two non-verbal tasks of visual closure and visual constancy). Results show that Brazilian Portuguese children with developmental dyslexia are impaired not only in phonological processing but further in visual processing. The phonological and visual processing abilities significantly and independently contribute to reading fluency in the whole population. Last, different cognitively homogeneous subtypes can be identified in the Brazilian Portuguese population of children with developmental dyslexia. Two subsets of children with developmental dyslexia were identified as having a single cognitive disorder, phonological or visual; another group exhibited a double deficit and a few children showed no visual or phonological disorder. Thus the current findings extend previous data from more opaque orthographies as French and English, in showing the importance of investigating visual processing skills in addition to phonological skills in children with developmental dyslexia whatever their language orthography transparency. PMID:25352822

Booted domain wall and charged Kaigorodov space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai Ronggen

2003-01-01

The Kaigorodov space is a homogeneous Einstein space and it describes a pp-wave propagating in anti-de Sitter space. It is conjectured in the literature that M-theory or string theory on the Kaigorodov space times a compact manifold is dual to a conformal field theory in an infinitely-boosted frame with constant momentum density. In this Letter we present a charged generalization of the Kaigorodov space by boosting a non-extremal charged domain wall to the ultrarelativity limit where the boost velocity approaches the speed of light. The finite boost of the domain wall solution gives the charged generalization of the Carter-Novotny-Horsky metric. We study the thermodynamics associated with the charged Carter-Novotny-Horsky space and discuss its relation to that of the static black domain walls and its implications in the domain wall/QFT (quantum field theory) correspondence

Domain Walls and Matter-Antimatter Domains in the Early Universe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dolgov A.D.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We suggest a scenario of spontaneous (or dynamical C and CP violation according to which it is possible to generate domains of matter and antimatter separated by cosmologically large distances. Such C(CP violation existed only in the early universe and later it disappeared with the only trace of generated matter and antimatter domains. So this scenario does not suffer from the problem of domain walls. According to this scenario the width of the domain wall should grow exponentially to prevent annihilation at the domain boundaries. Though there is a classical result obtained by Basu and Vilenkin that the width of the wall tends to the one of the stationary solution (constant physical width. That is why we considered thick domain walls in a de Sitter universe following paper by Basu and Vilenkin. However, we were interested not only in stationary solutions found therein, but also investigated the general case of domain wall evolution with time. When the wall thickness parameter, δ0 , is smaller than H−1/2 where H is the Hubble parameter in de Sitter space-time, then the stationary solutions exist, and initial field configurations tend with time to the stationary ones. However, there are no stationary solutions for δ0>H−1/2 We have calculated numerically the rate of the wall expansion in this case and have found that the width of the wall grows exponentially fast for δ0≫H−1 An explanation for the critical value δ0c=H−1/2 is also proposed.

Developmental evaluation of family functioning deficits in youths and young adults with childhood-onset bipolar disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

MacPherson, Heather A; Ruggieri, Amanda L; Christensen, Rachel E; Schettini, Elana; Kim, Kerri L; Thomas, Sarah A; Dickstein, Daniel P

2018-08-01

Childhood-onset bipolar disorder (BD) is a serious condition that affects the patient and family. While research has documented familial dysfunction in individuals with BD, no studies have compared developmental differences in family functioning in youths with BD vs. adults with prospectively verified childhood-onset BD. The Family Assessment Device (FAD) was used to examine family functioning in participants with childhood-onset BD (n = 116) vs. healthy controls (HCs) (n = 108), ages 7-30 years, using multivariate analysis of covariance and multiple linear regression. Participants with BD had significantly worse family functioning in all domains (problem solving, communication, roles, affective responsiveness, affective involvement, behavior control, general functioning) compared to HCs, regardless of age, IQ, and socioeconomic status. Post-hoc analyses suggested no influence for mood state, global functioning, comorbidity, and most medications, despite youths with BD presenting with greater severity in these areas than adults. Post-hoc tests eliminating participants taking lithium (n = 17) showed a significant diagnosis-by-age interaction: youths with BD had worse family problem solving and communication relative to HCs. Limitations include the cross-sectional design, clinical differences in youths vs. adults with BD, ambiguity in FAD instructions, participant-only report of family functioning, and lack of data on psychosocial treatments. Familial dysfunction is common in childhood-onset BD and endures into adulthood. Early identification and treatment of both individual and family impairments is crucial. Further investigation into multi-level, family-based mechanisms underlying childhood-onset BD may clarify the role family factors play in the disorder, and offer avenues for the development of novel, family-focused therapeutic strategies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Intranasal insulin to improve developmental delay in children with 22q13 deletion syndrome: an exploratory clinical trial

OpenAIRE

Schmidt, Heinrich; Giese, Renate; Enders, Angelika; Kern, W.; Hallschmid, M.

2009-01-01

Background: The 22q13 deletion syndrome (Phelan– McDermid syndrome) is characterised by a global developmental delay, absent or delayed speech, generalised hypotonia, autistic behaviour and characteristic phenotypic features. Intranasal insulin has been shown to improve declarative memory in healthy adult subjects and in patients with Alzheimer disease. Aims: To assess if intranasal insulin is also able to improve the developmental delay in children with 22q13 delet...

General, crystallized and fluid intelligence are not associated with functional global network efficiency: A replication study with the human connectome project 1200 data set.

Science.gov (United States)

Kruschwitz, J D; Waller, L; Daedelow, L S; Walter, H; Veer, I M

2018-05-01

One hallmark example of a link between global topological network properties of complex functional brain connectivity and cognitive performance is the finding that general intelligence may depend on the efficiency of the brain's intrinsic functional network architecture. However, although this association has been featured prominently over the course of the last decade, the empirical basis for this broad association of general intelligence and global functional network efficiency is quite limited. In the current study, we set out to replicate the previously reported association between general intelligence and global functional network efficiency using the large sample size and high quality data of the Human Connectome Project, and extended the original study by testing for separate association of crystallized and fluid intelligence with global efficiency, characteristic path length, and global clustering coefficient. We were unable to provide evidence for the proposed association between general intelligence and functional brain network efficiency, as was demonstrated by van den Heuvel et al. (2009), or for any other association with the global network measures employed. More specifically, across multiple network definition schemes, ranging from voxel-level networks to networks of only 100 nodes, no robust associations and only very weak non-significant effects with a maximal R 2 of 0.01 could be observed. Notably, the strongest (non-significant) effects were observed in voxel-level networks. We discuss the possibility that the low power of previous studies and publication bias may have led to false positive results fostering the widely accepted notion of general intelligence being associated to functional global network efficiency. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

English and development policy, pedagogy and globalization

CERN Document Server

Erling, Elizabeth J

2013-01-01

This book investigates the relationship between English and personal and national development in the era of globalization. It addresses the effects that the increased use of English and the promotion of English-language education are having in developmental contexts, and their impact on broader educational issues.

Developmental issues in chiropractic: a South African practitioner and patient perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Myburgh, Corrie; Mouton, Johan

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE: This study explores pertinent aspects of chiropractic practice in contemporary South Africa in terms of the domains of beliefs, philosophy, professional matters, and education. METHODS: Ten practitioners were purposively sampled. From these, 3 were used as gatekeepers to access 6...... in the chiropractor's office. However, some patients seem confused by the lack of health care system integration and consequently display uncertainty of the status the chiropractor can claim professionally and educationally. Practitioners portrayed a view, indicating that chiropractic cannot claim coherence in any...... health care practices as part of the education process and the concomitant perceived lack of exposure especially to black South Africans emerged as interesting and pertinent developmental themes in the local context. CONCLUSIONS: The international discourse related to issues in the domains of philosophy...

Global solutions in lower order Sobolev spaces for the generalized Boussinesq equation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luiz G. Farah

2012-03-01

Full Text Available We show that the Cauchy problem for the defocusing generalized Boussinesq equation $$ u_{tt}-u_{xx}+u_{xxxx}-(|u|^{2k}u_{xx}=0, quad kgeq 1, $$ on the real line is globally well-posed in $H^s(mathbb{R}$ with s>1-(1/(3k. To do this, we use the I-method, introduced by Colliander, Keel, Staffilani, Takaoka and Tao [8,9], to define a modification of the energy functional that is almost conserved in time. Our result extends a previous result obtained by Farah and Linares [16] for the case k=1.

National Plan to Achieve Maritime Domain Awareness for the National Strategy for Maritime Security

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

2005-01-01

Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) is the effective understanding of anything associated with the global maritime domain that could impact the security, safety, economy, or environment of the United States...

Predicting the multi-domain progression of Parkinson's disease: a Bayesian multivariate generalized linear mixed-effect model.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ming; Li, Zheng; Lee, Eun Young; Lewis, Mechelle M; Zhang, Lijun; Sterling, Nicholas W; Wagner, Daymond; Eslinger, Paul; Du, Guangwei; Huang, Xuemei

2017-09-25

It is challenging for current statistical models to predict clinical progression of Parkinson's disease (PD) because of the involvement of multi-domains and longitudinal data. Past univariate longitudinal or multivariate analyses from cross-sectional trials have limited power to predict individual outcomes or a single moment. The multivariate generalized linear mixed-effect model (GLMM) under the Bayesian framework was proposed to study multi-domain longitudinal outcomes obtained at baseline, 18-, and 36-month. The outcomes included motor, non-motor, and postural instability scores from the MDS-UPDRS, and demographic and standardized clinical data were utilized as covariates. The dynamic prediction was performed for both internal and external subjects using the samples from the posterior distributions of the parameter estimates and random effects, and also the predictive accuracy was evaluated based on the root of mean square error (RMSE), absolute bias (AB) and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. First, our prediction model identified clinical data that were differentially associated with motor, non-motor, and postural stability scores. Second, the predictive accuracy of our model for the training data was assessed, and improved prediction was gained in particularly for non-motor (RMSE and AB: 2.89 and 2.20) compared to univariate analysis (RMSE and AB: 3.04 and 2.35). Third, the individual-level predictions of longitudinal trajectories for the testing data were performed, with ~80% observed values falling within the 95% credible intervals. Multivariate general mixed models hold promise to predict clinical progression of individual outcomes in PD. The data was obtained from Dr. Xuemei Huang's NIH grant R01 NS060722 , part of NINDS PD Biomarker Program (PDBP). All data was entered within 24 h of collection to the Data Management Repository (DMR), which is publically available ( https://pdbp.ninds.nih.gov/data-management ).

Developmental transcriptome of Aplysia californica'

KAUST Repository

Heyland, Andreas

2010-12-06

Genome-wide transcriptional changes in development provide important insight into mechanisms underlying growth, differentiation, and patterning. However, such large-scale developmental studies have been limited to a few representatives of Ecdysozoans and Chordates. Here, we characterize transcriptomes of embryonic, larval, and metamorphic development in the marine mollusc Aplysia californica and reveal novel molecular components associated with life history transitions. Specifically, we identify more than 20 signal peptides, putative hormones, and transcription factors in association with early development and metamorphic stages-many of which seem to be evolutionarily conserved elements of signal transduction pathways. We also characterize genes related to biomineralization-a critical process of molluscan development. In summary, our experiment provides the first large-scale survey of gene expression in mollusc development, and complements previous studies on the regulatory mechanisms underlying body plan patterning and the formation of larval and juvenile structures. This study serves as a resource for further functional annotation of transcripts and genes in Aplysia, specifically and molluscs in general. A comparison of the Aplysia developmental transcriptome with similar studies in the zebra fish Danio rerio, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, and other studies on molluscs suggests an overall highly divergent pattern of gene regulatory mechanisms that are likely a consequence of the different developmental modes of these organisms. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company.

Comparing Domain-Specific Physical Activity Efficacy Level between Turkish Adolescent Girls and Boys

Science.gov (United States)

Çatikkas, Fatih

2017-01-01

The adolescence period is a very critical developmental period for personality, socializing and promotion of physical activity. In this regard, the aim of this study was to compare domain-specific physical activity efficacy level between adolescent boys and girls. A total of 219 girls (body weight: 57.50 ± 10.44 kg, height: 160.30 ± 7.40 cm, age…

Towards Domain-specific Flow-based Languages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zarrin, Bahram; Baumeister, Hubert; Sarjoughian, Hessam S.

2018-01-01

describe their problems and solutions, instead of using general purpose programming languages. The goal of these languages is to improve the productivity and efficiency of the development and simulation of concurrent scientific models and systems. Moreover, they help to expose parallelism and to specify...... the concurrency within a component or across different independent components. In this paper, we introduce the concept of domain-specific flowbased languages which allows domain experts to use flow-based languages adapted to a particular problem domain. Flow-based programming is used to support concurrency, while......Due to the significant growth of the demand for data-intensive computing, in addition to the emergence of new parallel and distributed computing technologies, scientists and domain experts are leveraging languages specialized for their problem domain, i.e., domain-specific languages, to help them...

Updating the Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) Core Domain Set

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Orbai, Ana-Maria; de Wit, Maarten; Mease, Philip J

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To include the patient perspective in accordance with the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Filter 2.0 in the updated Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) Core Domain Set for randomized controlled trials (RCT) and longitudinal observational studies (LOS). METHODS: At OMERACT 2016, research...... conducted to update the PsA Core Domain Set was presented and discussed in breakout groups. The updated PsA Core Domain Set was voted on and endorsed by OMERACT participants. RESULTS: We conducted a systematic literature review of domains measured in PsA RCT and LOS, and identified 24 domains. We conducted...... and breakout groups at OMERACT 2016 in which findings were presented and discussed. The updated PsA Core Domain Set endorsed with 90% agreement by OMERACT 2016 participants included musculoskeletal disease activity, skin disease activity, fatigue, pain, patient's global assessment, physical function, health...

Developmental and behavioural problems in children with severe acute malnutrition in Malawi: A cross–sectional study

Science.gov (United States)

van den Heuvel, Meta; Voskuijl, Wieger; Chidzalo, Kate; Kerac, Marko; Reijneveld, Sijmen A; Bandsma, Robert; Gladstone, Melissa

2017-01-01

Background Early childhood development provides an important foundation for the development of human capital. Although there is a clear relation between stunting and child development outcomes, less information is available about the developmental and behavioural outcomes of children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Particularly an important research gap exists in Sub–Saharan Africa where there is a high prevalence of SAM and a high rate of co–occurring HIV (human immune deficiency virus) infection. Our first objective was to assess the prevalence and severity of developmental and behavioural disorders on a cohort of children admitted to an inpatient nutritional rehabilitation centre in Malawi. Our second objective was to compare the developmental and behavioural profiles of children with the two main phenotypes of SAM: kwashiorkor and marasmus. Methods This was a cross–sectional observational study including all children hospitalized with complicated SAM in Blantyre, Malawi over an 8–month period from February to October 2015. At discharge, children were assessed with the well-validated Malawi Developmental Assessment Tool (MDAT) for gross motor, fine motor, language and social development. In children ≥24 months, emotional and behavioural problems were measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results 150 children (55% boys) with SAM were recruited; mean age of 27.2 months (standard deviation 17.9), 27 children (18%) had pre–existing neurodisabilities (ND) and 34 (23%) had a co–occurring human immune deficiency virus (HIV) infection. All children with SAM experienced profound delays in the gross and fine motor, language and social domains. Linear regression analysis demonstrated that children with kwashiorkor scored 0.75 standard deviations lower (95% confidence interval –1.43 to –0.07) on language MDAT domain than children with marasmus when adjusted for covariates. The prosocial behaviour score of the SDQ was low

Regional climate projections for the MENA-CORDEX domain: analysis of projected temperature and precipitation changes

Science.gov (United States)

Hänsler, Andreas; Weber, Torsten; Eggert, Bastian; Saeed, Fahad; Jacob, Daniela

2014-05-01

Within the CORDEX initiative a multi-model suite of regionalized climate change information will be made available for several regions of the world. The German Climate Service Center (CSC) is taking part in this initiative by applying the regional climate model REMO to downscale global climate projections of different coupled general circulation models (GCMs) for several CORDEX domains. Also for the MENA-CORDEX domain, a set of regional climate change projections has been established at the CSC by downscaling CMIP5 projections of the Max-Planck-Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM) for the scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 with the regional model REMO for the time period from 1950 to 2100 to a horizontal resolution of 0.44 degree. In this study we investigate projected changes in future climate conditions over the domain towards the end of the 21st century. Focus in the analysis is given to projected changes in the temperature and rainfall characteristics and their differences for the two scenarios will be highlighted.

Screening for Developmental Disorders in 3- and 4-Year-Old Italian Children: A Preliminary Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Catino

2017-08-01

Full Text Available BackgroundThe “Osserviamo” project, coordinated by the Municipality of Rome and the Department of Pediatrics and Child Neuropsychiatry of Sapienza University, aimed to validate an Italian version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3 and to collect, for the first time in Italy, data on developmental disorders in a sample of 4,000 children aged 3 and 4 years. The present paper presents the preliminary results of the “Osserviamo” project.Methods600 parents of children between 39 and 50 months of age (divided in two age stages: 42 and 48 months were contacted from 15 kindergarden schools.Results23.35% of the whole sample scored in the risk range of at least one developmental area of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3rd Edition (ASQ-3 and 7.78% scored in the clinical range. Specifically, 23.97% of the children in the 42-month age stage scored in the risk range and 5.79% scored in the clinical range. Males scored lower than females in the fine motor skills and personal–social development domains. Moreover, 22.79% of the children in the 48-month age stage scored in the risk range, while 9.55% scored in the clinical range. Males scored lower than females in fine motor skills.ConclusionItalian validation of the ASQ-3 and recruitment of all 4,000 participants will allow these data on the distribution of developmental disorders to be extended to the general Italian pediatric population. One main limitation of the study is the lack of clinical confirmation of the data yielded by the screening programme, which the authors aim to obtain in later stages of the study.

Domain General Mediators of the Relation between Kindergarten Number Sense and First-Grade Mathematics Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Hassinger-Das, Brenna; Jordan, Nancy C.; Glutting, Joseph; Irwin, Casey; Dyson, Nancy

2013-01-01

Domain general skills that mediate the relation between kindergarten number sense and first-grade mathematics skills were investigated. Participants were 107 children who displayed low number sense in the fall of kindergarten. Controlling for background variables, multiple regression analyses showed that attention problems and executive functioning both were unique predictors of mathematics outcomes. Attention problems were more important for predicting first-grade calculation performance while executive functioning was more important for predicting first-grade performance on applied problems. Moreover, both executive functioning and attention problems were unique partial mediators of the relationship between kindergarten and first-grade mathematics skills. The results provide empirical support for developing interventions that target executive functioning and attention problems in addition to instruction in number skills for kindergartners with initial low number sense. PMID:24237789

Changes in precipitation extremes projected by a 20-km mesh global atmospheric model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akio Kitoh

2016-03-01

Full Text Available High-resolution modeling is necessary to project weather and climate extremes and their future changes under global warming. A global high-resolution atmospheric general circulation model with grid size about 20 km is able to reproduce climate fields as well as regional-scale phenomena such as monsoonal rainfall, tropical and extratropical cyclones, and heavy precipitation. This 20-km mesh model is applied to project future changes in weather and climate extremes at the end of the 21st century with four different spatial patterns in sea surface temperature (SST changes: one with the mean SST changes by the 28 models of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5 under the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP-8.5 scenario, and the other three obtained from a cluster analysis, in which tropical SST anomalies derived from the 28 CMIP5 models were grouped. Here we focus on future changes in regional precipitation and its extremes. Various precipitation indices averaged over the Twenty-two regional land domains are calculated. Heavy precipitation indices (maximum 5-day precipitation total and maximum 1-day precipitation total increase in all regional domains, even where mean precipitation decrease (Southern Africa, South Europe/Mediterranean, Central America. South Asia is the domain of the largest extreme precipitation increase. In some domains, different SST patterns result in large precipitation changes, possibly related to changes in large-scale circulations in the tropical Pacific.

Relations with parents and identity statuses in the relational domain in emerging adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Justyna Michałek

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background Emerging adulthood is a core developmental period in which individuals can develop a meaningful identity in the relational domain (with a romantic partner. The aim of the study was to examine relationships between relations with parents and identity statuses in the relational domain in emerging adults. Participants and procedure Participants were 266 (47.30% males emerging adults (M = 22.50, SD = 1.73. They completed self-report measures of relations with parents and identity. Results More than half of the participants were in the moratorium status or were not involved in a romantic relationship (35% and 29%, respectively. Relations with parents were linked to identity statuses in the relational domain. Particularly, the perception of low autonomy given by the father was related to less mature identity statuses. Conclusions This study highlighted that transition from singleness to stable partnerships seems to be challenging. Therefore, it is important to examine correlates of identity statuses in this domain.

Identifying interprofessional global health competencies for 21st-century health professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Jogerst, Kristen; Callender, Brian; Adams, Virginia; Evert, Jessica; Fields, Elise; Hall, Thomas; Olsen, Jody; Rowthorn, Virginia; Rudy, Sharon; Shen, Jiabin; Simon, Lisa; Torres, Herica; Velji, Anvar; Wilson, Lynda L

2015-01-01

At the 2008 inaugural meeting of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH), participants discussed the rapid expansion of global health programs and the lack of standardized competencies and curricula to guide these programs. In 2013, CUGH appointed a Global Health Competency Subcommittee and charged this subcommittee with identifying broad global health core competencies applicable across disciplines. The purpose of this paper is to describe the Subcommittee's work and proposed list of interprofessional global health competencies. After agreeing on a definition of global health to guide the Subcommittee's work, members conducted an extensive literature review to identify existing competencies in all fields relevant to global health. Subcommittee members initially identified 82 competencies in 12 separate domains, and proposed four different competency levels. The proposed competencies and domains were discussed during multiple conference calls, and subcommittee members voted to determine the final competencies to be included in two of the four proposed competency levels (global citizen and basic operational level - program oriented). The final proposed list included a total of 13 competencies across 8 domains for the Global Citizen Level and 39 competencies across 11 domains for the Basic Operational Program-Oriented Level. There is a need for continued debate and dialog to validate the proposed set of competencies, and a need for further research to identify best strategies for incorporating these competencies into global health educational programs. Future research should focus on implementation and evaluation of these competencies across a range of educational programs, and further delineating the competencies needed across all four proposed competency levels. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Generalized algorithm for control of numerical dispersion in explicit time-domain electromagnetic simulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin M. Cowan

2013-04-01

Full Text Available We describe a modification to the finite-difference time-domain algorithm for electromagnetics on a Cartesian grid which eliminates numerical dispersion error in vacuum for waves propagating along a grid axis. We provide details of the algorithm, which generalizes previous work by allowing 3D operation with a wide choice of aspect ratio, and give conditions to eliminate dispersive errors along one or more of the coordinate axes. We discuss the algorithm in the context of laser-plasma acceleration simulation, showing significant reduction—up to a factor of 280, at a plasma density of 10^{23}  m^{-3}—of the dispersion error of a linear laser pulse in a plasma channel. We then compare the new algorithm with the standard electromagnetic update for laser-plasma accelerator stage simulations, demonstrating that by controlling numerical dispersion, the new algorithm allows more accurate simulation than is otherwise obtained. We also show that the algorithm can be used to overcome the critical but difficult challenge of consistent initialization of a relativistic particle beam and its fields in an accelerator simulation.

Legal Challenges Related to the Regulation of a Domain Name System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius Kalinauskas

2012-12-01

legal and ethical aspect related to the limitation of domain name usage is reviewed when various combinations of top level domains and second level domains may arise due to newly-created generic top-level domain names. The usage of these methods may inflict potential threats for the legitimate interests of institutions, individuals or other legal subjects. The reasonable limitations of domain naming system could possibly help to protect the legal interests of individuals and to secure the legitimate expectations arising from a historical, cultural and legal perspective. The growth and impact of the internet influences global economic, political and business processes. The emerging of internet of things and other adaptations of the technology determine the necessity to liberalize the governance of a domain name system.Research type—general review, viewpoint.

Legal Challenges Related to the Regulation of a Domain Name System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius Kalinauskas

2013-02-01

. The legal and ethical aspect related to the limitation of domain name usage is reviewed when various combinations of top level domains and second level domains may arise due to newly-created generic top-level domain names. The usage of these methods may inflict potential threats for the legitimate interests of institutions, individuals or other legal subjects. The reasonable limitations of domain naming system could possibly help to protect the legal interests of individuals and to secure the legitimate expectations arising from a historical, cultural and legal perspective. The growth and impact of the internet influences global economic, political and business processes. The emerging of internet of things and other adaptations of the technology determine the necessity to liberalize the governance of a domain name system. Research type—general review, viewpoint.

Development of the complex general linear model in the Fourier domain: application to fMRI multiple input-output evoked responses for single subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Rio, Daniel E; Rawlings, Robert R; Woltz, Lawrence A; Gilman, Jodi; Hommer, Daniel W

2013-01-01

A linear time-invariant model based on statistical time series analysis in the Fourier domain for single subjects is further developed and applied to functional MRI (fMRI) blood-oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) multivariate data. This methodology was originally developed to analyze multiple stimulus input evoked response BOLD data. However, to analyze clinical data generated using a repeated measures experimental design, the model has been extended to handle multivariate time series data and demonstrated on control and alcoholic subjects taken from data previously analyzed in the temporal domain. Analysis of BOLD data is typically carried out in the time domain where the data has a high temporal correlation. These analyses generally employ parametric models of the hemodynamic response function (HRF) where prewhitening of the data is attempted using autoregressive (AR) models for the noise. However, this data can be analyzed in the Fourier domain. Here, assumptions made on the noise structure are less restrictive, and hypothesis tests can be constructed based on voxel-specific nonparametric estimates of the hemodynamic transfer function (HRF in the Fourier domain). This is especially important for experimental designs involving multiple states (either stimulus or drug induced) that may alter the form of the response function.

The General Aggression Model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Allen, Johnie J.; Anderson, Craig A.; Bushman, Brad J.

The General Aggression Model (GAM) is a comprehensive, integrative, framework for understanding aggression. It considers the role of social, cognitive, personality, developmental, and biological factors on aggression. Proximate processes of GAM detail how person and situation factors influence

Changing Landscapes, Changing Narratives: Socio-Cultural Approach for Teaching Global Migrants

Science.gov (United States)

Lucic, Luka

2016-01-01

Given the proliferation of new media technologies today's immigrant children and youth are experiencing the effects of "time-space compression" in the domain of interpersonal interactions. Increasingly, they are able to simultaneously engage in developmental activities across their native and host societies. If migration is no longer a…

Functional anthology of intrinsic disorder. 2. Cellular components, domains, technical terms, developmental processes, and coding sequence diversities correlated with long disordered regions.

Science.gov (United States)

Vucetic, Slobodan; Xie, Hongbo; Iakoucheva, Lilia M; Oldfield, Christopher J; Dunker, A Keith; Obradovic, Zoran; Uversky, Vladimir N

2007-05-01

Biologically active proteins without stable ordered structure (i.e., intrinsically disordered proteins) are attracting increased attention. Functional repertoires of ordered and disordered proteins are very different, and the ability to differentiate whether a given function is associated with intrinsic disorder or with a well-folded protein is crucial for modern protein science. However, there is a large gap between the number of proteins experimentally confirmed to be disordered and their actual number in nature. As a result, studies of functional properties of confirmed disordered proteins, while helpful in revealing the functional diversity of protein disorder, provide only a limited view. To overcome this problem, a bioinformatics approach for comprehensive study of functional roles of protein disorder was proposed in the first paper of this series (Xie, H.; Vucetic, S.; Iakoucheva, L. M.; Oldfield, C. J.; Dunker, A. K.; Obradovic, Z.; Uversky, V. N. Functional anthology of intrinsic disorder. 1. Biological processes and functions of proteins with long disordered regions. J. Proteome Res. 2007, 5, 1882-1898). Applying this novel approach to Swiss-Prot sequences and functional keywords, we found over 238 and 302 keywords to be strongly positively or negatively correlated, respectively, with long intrinsically disordered regions. This paper describes approximately 90 Swiss-Prot keywords attributed to the cellular components, domains, technical terms, developmental processes, and coding sequence diversities possessing strong positive and negative correlation with long disordered regions.

Functional Anthology of Intrinsic Disorder. II. Cellular Components, Domains, Technical Terms, Developmental Processes and Coding Sequence Diversities Correlated with Long Disordered Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Vucetic, Slobodan; Xie, Hongbo; Iakoucheva, Lilia M.; Oldfield, Christopher J.; Dunker, A. Keith; Obradovic, Zoran; Uversky, Vladimir N.

2008-01-01

Biologically active proteins without stable ordered structure (i.e., intrinsically disordered proteins) are attracting increased attention. Functional repertoires of ordered and disordered proteins are very different, and the ability to differentiate whether a given function is associated with intrinsic disorder or with a well-folded protein is crucial for modern protein science. However, there is a large gap between the number of proteins experimentally confirmed to be disordered and their actual number in nature. As a result, studies of functional properties of confirmed disordered proteins, while helpful in revealing the functional diversity of protein disorder, provide only a limited view. To overcome this problem, a bioinformatics approach for comprehensive study of functional roles of protein disorder was proposed in the first paper of this series (Xie H., Vucetic S., Iakoucheva L.M., Oldfield C.J., Dunker A.K., Obradovic Z., Uversky V.N. (2006) Functional anthology of intrinsic disorder. I. Biological processes and functions of proteins with long disordered regions. J. Proteome Res.). Applying this novel approach to Swiss-Prot sequences and functional keywords, we found over 238 and 302 keywords to be strongly positively or negatively correlated, respectively, with long intrinsically disordered regions. This paper describes ~90 Swiss-Prot keywords attributed to the cellular components, domains, technical terms, developmental processes and coding sequence diversities possessing strong positive and negative correlation with long disordered regions. PMID:17391015

Domain structure in soft ferrites by the longitudinal Kerr effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaczmarek, R.; Dautain, M.; Barradi-Ismail, T.

1992-01-01

For the first time, the longitudinal Kerr effect has been used in order to observe magnetic domains and their development in power ferrites. Image subtraction and processing leads to a magnetic contrast being a quasi derivative of the domains. A kind of integration procedure applied to them permits a reconstruction of a local hysteresis which parameters closely approach the global hysteresis data. (orig.)

System Identification A Frequency Domain Approach

CERN Document Server

Pintelon, Rik

2012-01-01

System identification is a general term used to describe mathematical tools and algorithms that build dynamical models from measured data. Used for prediction, control, physical interpretation, and the designing of any electrical systems, they are vital in the fields of electrical, mechanical, civil, and chemical engineering. Focusing mainly on frequency domain techniques, System Identification: A Frequency Domain Approach, Second Edition also studies in detail the similarities and differences with the classical time domain approach. It high??lights many of the important steps in the identi

The effects of tritiated water on some developmental stages of tilapia nilotica

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carino, V.S.

1986-01-01

Seven developmental stages of Tilapia nilotica from gastrula (11 hr) to the active feeding and free swimming stage (10-d) were reared in tritiated water of concentrations 10 -3 10 -2 and 10 -1 Ci 1 -1 . The fish were reared for different lengths of time, the first group for the period till the next developmental stage and the second group till 3 weeks of age or day 21. Treated and control specimens were compared. An over-all delay in development was noted both at the gross morphological and the histological levels in the experimental fish. Growth was stunted. Many had unresorped yolk which was observable externally in the distended abdomens and histologically within the liver. Percent survival was lower in the treated fish and this was, in general, inversely related to developmental stage and tritium concentration of the rearing water. Posthatch larvae were sluggish to inactive. The liver exhibited histological aberrations which include the presence of adipose cells in place of liver parenchyma in the more anterior liver regions. Brains of treated fish, in general were smaller. One instance of an abnormal brain growth and findings on the retinal epithelium, spleen and pancreas are described. Development of gonads and digestive tract was, in general, retarded. (Auth.) 40 refs.; 5 tabs

Global existence and uniform stabilization of a generalized dissipative Klein-Gordon equation type with boundary damping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Zaiyun; Miao Xiujin; Chen Yuezhong; Liu Zhenhai

2011-01-01

In this paper, we prove the existence, uniqueness, and uniform stability of strong and weak solutions of the nonlinear generalized Klein-Gordon equation (1.1) 1 (see Sec. I) in bounded domains with nonlinear damped boundary conditions given by (1.1) 3 (see Sec. I) with some restrictions on function f(u), h(∇u), g(u t ), and b(x), we prove the existence and uniqueness by means of nonlinear semigroup method and obtain the uniform stabilization by using the multiplier technique.

[Reliability for detection of developmental problems using the semaphore from the Child Development Evaluation test: Is a yellow result different from a red result?

Science.gov (United States)

Rizzoli-Córdoba, Antonio; Ortega-Ríosvelasco, Fernando; Villasís-Keever, Miguel Ángel; Pizarro-Castellanos, Mariel; Buenrostro-Márquez, Guillermo; Aceves-Villagrán, Daniel; O'Shea-Cuevas, Gabriel; Muñoz-Hernández, Onofre

The Child Development Evaluation (CDE) is a screening tool designed and validated in Mexico for detecting developmental problems. The result is expressed through a semaphore. In the CDE test, both yellow and red results are considered positive, although a different intervention is proposed for each. The aim of this work was to evaluate the reliability of the CDE test to discriminate between children with yellow/red result based on the developmental domain quotient (DDQ) obtained through the Battelle Development Inventory, 2nd edition (in Spanish) (BDI-2). The information was obtained for the study from the validation. Children with a normal (green) result in the CDE were excluded. Two different cut-off points of the DDQ were used (BDI-2): social: 20.1% vs. 28.9%; and adaptive: 6.9% vs. 20.4%. The semaphore result yellow/red allows identifying different magnitudes of delay in developmental domains or subdomains, supporting the recommendation of different interventions for each one. Copyright © 2014 Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

An Algebro-Topological Description of Protein Domain Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Penner, Robert Clark; Knudsen, Michael; Wiuf, Carsten; Andersen, Jørgen Ellegaard

2011-01-01

The space of possible protein structures appears vast and continuous, and the relationship between primary, secondary and tertiary structure levels is complex. Protein structure comparison and classification is therefore a difficult but important task since structure is a determinant for molecular interaction and function. We introduce a novel mathematical abstraction based on geometric topology to describe protein domain structure. Using the locations of the backbone atoms and the hydrogen bonds, we build a combinatorial object – a so-called fatgraph. The description is discrete yet gives rise to a 2-dimensional mathematical surface. Thus, each protein domain corresponds to a particular mathematical surface with characteristic topological invariants, such as the genus (number of holes) and the number of boundary components. Both invariants are global fatgraph features reflecting the interconnectivity of the domain by hydrogen bonds. We introduce the notion of robust variables, that is variables that are robust towards minor changes in the structure/fatgraph, and show that the genus and the number of boundary components are robust. Further, we invesigate the distribution of different fatgraph variables and show how only four variables are capable of distinguishing different folds. We use local (secondary) and global (tertiary) fatgraph features to describe domain structures and illustrate that they are useful for classification of domains in CATH. In addition, we combine our method with two other methods thereby using primary, secondary, and tertiary structure information, and show that we can identify a large percentage of new and unclassified structures in CATH. PMID:21629687

Global asymptotic stability to a generalized Cohen-Grossberg BAM neural networks of neutral type delays.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhengqiu; Liu, Wenbin; Zhou, Dongming

2012-01-01

In this paper, we first discuss the existence of a unique equilibrium point of a generalized Cohen-Grossberg BAM neural networks of neutral type delays by means of the Homeomorphism theory and inequality technique. Then, by applying the existence result of an equilibrium point and constructing a Lyapunov functional, we study the global asymptotic stability of the equilibrium solution to the above Cohen-Grossberg BAM neural networks of neutral type. In our results, the hypothesis for boundedness in the existing paper, which discussed Cohen-Grossberg neural networks of neutral type on the activation functions, are removed. Finally, we give an example to demonstrate the validity of our global asymptotic stability result for the above neural networks. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developmental rates and morphological properties of fibres in two ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

It was found, however, that dry sites, where trees are experiencing comparatively high levels of environmental stress, can be expected to experience greater extremes in developmental processes between seasons, or over relatively short periods, generally, than wetter sites. These sorts of fluctuations will also translate into ...

Awareness of Breast Developmental Anomalies: A Study in Jamasi, Ghana

OpenAIRE

Agbenorku, P.; Agbenorku, M.; Iddi, A.; Amevor, E.; Kofitse, M.; Klutsey, E.

2011-01-01

Background Few global studies investigating breast developmental anomalies (BDA) among young females have been conducted. This study aimed to evaluate the degree of BDA awareness among young females in central Ghana. Methods In February 2008, clinical breast examination was performed for both breasts of female volunteers at five selected junior high schools (JHS) in Jamasi, Ghana. Anonymous pretested questionnaires were administered to those found to have BDA. Results Of the 600 female studen...

A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded trial of duloxetine in the treatment of general fatigue in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Lesley M; Blom, Thomas J; Welge, Jeffrey A; Mariutto, Elizabeth; Heller, Alicia

2015-01-01

To assess the efficacy and safety of duloxetine in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. A 12-week, randomized, double-blind study was designed to compare duloxetine 60-120 mg/d (n = 30) with placebo (n = 30) for efficacy and safety in the treatment of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. The primary outcome measure was the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory general fatigue subscale (range: 4-20, with higher scores indicating greater fatigue). Secondary measures were the remaining Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory subscales, Brief Pain Inventory, Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Symptom Inventory, Patient Global Impression of Improvement, and Clinical Global Impression of Severity. The primary analysis of efficacy for continuous variables was a longitudinal analysis of the intent-to-treat sample, with treatment-by-time interaction as the measure of effect. The improvement in the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory general fatigue scores for the duloxetine group was not significantly greater than for the placebo group (P = 0.23; estimated difference between groups at week 12 = -1.0 [95% CI: -2.8, 0.7]). The duloxetine group was significantly superior to the placebo group on the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory mental fatigue score, Brief Pain Inventory average pain severity and interference scores, Short Form-36 bodily pain domain, and Clinical Global Impression of Severity score. Duloxetine was generally well tolerated. The primary efficacy measure of general fatigue did not significantly improve with duloxetine when compared with placebo. Significant improvement in secondary measures of mental fatigue, pain, and global measure of severity suggests that duloxetine may be efficacious for some chronic fatigue syndrome symptom domains, but larger controlled trials are needed to confirm these results. Copyright © 2015 The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. Published by

Incompleteness in the finite domain

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pudlák, Pavel

2017-01-01

Roč. 23, č. 4 (2017), s. 405-441 ISSN 1079-8986 EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 339691 - FEALORA Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : finite domain Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics OBOR OECD: Pure mathematics Impact factor: 0.742, year: 2016 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-symbolic-logic/article/incompleteness-in-the-finite-domain/D239B1761A73DCA534A4805A76D81C76

Our experience with the aetiological diagnosis of global developmental delay and intellectual disability: 2006-2010.

Science.gov (United States)

López-Pisón, J; García-Jiménez, M C; Monge-Galindo, L; Lafuente-Hidalgo, M; Pérez-Delgado, R; García-Oguiza, A; Peña-Segura, J L

2014-09-01

Global developmental delay (GDD) and intellectual disability (ID) are common reasons for consultation in paediatric neurology. Results from aetiological evaluations of children with GDD/ID vary greatly, and consequently, there is no universal consensus regarding which studies should be performed. We review our experience with determining aetiological diagnoses for children with GDD/ID who were monitored by the paediatric neurology unit over the 5-year period between 2006 and 2010. During the study period, 995 children with GDD/ID were monitored. An aetiological diagnosis was established for 309 patients (31%), but not in 686 (69%), despite completing numerous tests. A genetic cause was identified in 142 cases (46% of the total aetiologies established), broken down as 118 cases of genetic encephalopathy and 24 of metabolic hereditary diseases. Our data seem to indicate that diagnosis is easier when GDD/ID is associated with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, infantile spasms/West syndrome, or visual deficit, but more difficult in cases of autism spectrum disorders. Genetic studies provide an increasing number of aetiological diagnoses, and they are also becoming the first step in diagnostic studies. Array CGH (microarray-based comparative genomic hybridisation) is the genetic test with the highest diagnostic yield in children with unexplained GDD/ID. The cost-effectiveness of complementary studies seems to be low if there are no clinically suspected entities. However, even in the absence of treatment, aetiological diagnosis is always important in order to provide genetic counselling and possible prenatal diagnosis, resolve family (and doctors') queries, and halt further diagnostic studies. Copyright © 2013 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

[Review of assessment methods used to evaluate feeding for children with pervasive developmental disorder].

Science.gov (United States)

Nadon, G; Ehrmann Feldman, D; Gisel, E

2008-08-01

Current evaluations used by occupational therapists to assess and treat feeding problems derive mainly from the domain of dysphagia. The purpose of this article is to familiarize the reader with tools used, in research, for children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) and to determine if any of these meet the needs of occupational therapists. The following data bases were searched: Medline, CINAHL, HAPI and PsyINFO, using the terms pervasive developmental disorder, autism, Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, eating behavior, eating disorder, food preference, food selectivity, feeding disorders, picky eater and child. All articles published between 1980 and 2006 (n=27) were reviewed. A total of 20 studies met our selection criteria. Assessment methods are compared using the Disability Creation Model (DCP). The DCP is the Quebec alternative to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). None of the evaluation tools reviewed met all factors that may influence eating in children with PDD. Implications for research and practice in occupational therapy are discussed.

Impact of a "No Mobile Device" Policy on Developmental Surveillance in a Pediatric Clinic.

Science.gov (United States)

Regan, Paul A; Fogel, Benjamin S; Hicks, Steven D

2018-04-01

Children commonly use mobile devices at pediatric office visits. This practice may affect patient-provider interaction and undermine accuracy of developmental surveillance. A randomized, provider-blinded, controlled trial examined whether a policy prohibiting mobile device use in a pediatric clinic improved accuracy of pediatricians' developmental surveillance. Children, aged 18 to 36 months, were randomized to device-prohibited (intervention; n = 58) or device-allowed (control; n = 54) groups. After a 30-minute well-visit, development was evaluated as "normal," "borderline," or "delayed" in 5 categories using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3). ASQ-3 results were compared with providers' clinical assessment in each category. Provider-ASQ discrepancies were more common for intervention participants ( P = .025). Providers "missed" more ASQ-3 "delayed" scores ( P = .005) in the intervention group, particularly in the fine motor domain ( P = .018). Prohibiting mobile device use at well-visits did not improve accuracy of providers' developmental surveillance. Mobile devices may entertain children at well-visits, allowing opportunities for parent-provider discussion, or observation of fine motor skills.

Dysmorphic features and developmental outcome of 2-year-old children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Seggers, Jorien; Haadsma, Maaike L.; Bos, Arend F.; Heineman, Maas Jan; Middelburg, Karin J.; van den Heuvel, Edwin R.; Hadders-Algra, Mijna

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the associations between dysmorphic features and neurological, mental, psychomotor, and behavioural development in order to improve our understanding of aetiological pathways leading to minor developmental problems. In our cross-sectional study, 272 generally

Domain wall engineering through exchange bias

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albisetti, E.; Petti, D.

2016-01-01

The control of the structure and position of magnetic domain walls is at the basis of the development of different magnetic devices and architectures. Several nanofabrication techniques have been proposed to geometrically confine and shape domain wall structures; however, a fine tuning of the position and micromagnetic configuration is hardly achieved, especially in continuous films. This work shows that, by controlling the unidirectional anisotropy of a continuous ferromagnetic film through exchange bias, domain walls whose spin arrangement is generally not favored by dipolar and exchange interactions can be created. Micromagnetic simulations reveal that the domain wall width, position and profile can be tuned by establishing an abrupt change in the direction and magnitude of the exchange bias field set in the system. - Highlights: • Micromagnetic simulations study domain walls in exchange biased thin films. • Novel domain wall configurations can be stabilized via exchange bias. • Domain walls nucleate at the boundary of regions with different exchange bias. • Domain wall width and spin profile are controlled by tuning the exchange bias.

Identification of new developmentally regulated genes involved in Streptomyces coelicolor sporulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Salerno, Paola; Persson, Jessica; Bucca, Giselda; Laing, Emma; Ausmees, Nora; Smith, Colin P; Flärdh, Klas

2013-12-05

The sporulation of aerial hyphae of Streptomyces coelicolor is a complex developmental process. Only a limited number of the genes involved in this intriguing morphological differentiation programme are known, including some key regulatory genes. The aim of this study was to expand our knowledge of the gene repertoire involved in S. coelicolor sporulation. We report a DNA microarray-based investigation of developmentally controlled gene expression in S. coelicolor. By comparing global transcription patterns of the wild-type parent and two mutants lacking key regulators of aerial hyphal sporulation, we found a total of 114 genes that had significantly different expression in at least one of the two mutants compared to the wild-type during sporulation. A whiA mutant showed the largest effects on gene expression, while only a few genes were specifically affected by whiH mutation. Seven new sporulation loci were investigated in more detail with respect to expression patterns and mutant phenotypes. These included SCO7449-7451 that affect spore pigment biogenesis; SCO1773-1774 that encode an L-alanine dehydrogenase and a regulator-like protein and are required for maturation of spores; SCO3857 that encodes a protein highly similar to a nosiheptide resistance regulator and affects spore maturation; and four additional loci (SCO4421, SCO4157, SCO0934, SCO1195) that show developmental regulation but no overt mutant phenotype. Furthermore, we describe a new promoter-probe vector that takes advantage of the red fluorescent protein mCherry as a reporter of cell type-specific promoter activity. Aerial hyphal sporulation in S. coelicolor is a technically challenging process for global transcriptomic investigations since it occurs only as a small fraction of the colony biomass and is not highly synchronized. Here we show that by comparing a wild-type to mutants lacking regulators that are specifically affecting processes in aerial hypha, it is possible to identify previously

Digital Library Education: Global Trends and Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Shem, Magaji

2015-01-01

The paper examines trends and issues in digital education programmes globally, drawing examples of developmental growth of Library Information Science (LIS), schools and digital education courses in North America, Britain, and Southern Asia, the slow growth of LIS schools and digital education in Nigeria and some countries in Africa and India. The…

Domain-general mediators of the relation between kindergarten number sense and first-grade mathematics achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassinger-Das, Brenna; Jordan, Nancy C; Glutting, Joseph; Irwin, Casey; Dyson, Nancy

2014-02-01

Domain-general skills that mediate the relation between kindergarten number sense and first-grade mathematics skills were investigated. Participants were 107 children who displayed low number sense in the fall of kindergarten. Controlling for background variables, multiple regression analyses showed that both attention problems and executive functioning were unique predictors of mathematics outcomes. Attention problems were more important for predicting first-grade calculation performance, whereas executive functioning was more important for predicting first-grade performance on applied problems. Moreover, both executive functioning and attention problems were unique partial mediators of the relationship between kindergarten and first-grade mathematics skills. The results provide empirical support for developing interventions that target executive functioning and attention problems in addition to instruction in number skills for kindergartners with initial low number sense. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Implications of the idea of neurodiversity for understanding the origins of developmental disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Masataka, Nobuo

2017-03-01

Neurodiversity, a term initially used mostly by civil and human rights movements since the 1990s, refers to the notion that cognitive as well as emotional properties characteristic of developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are not necessarily deficits, but fall within normal behavioural variations exhibited by humans. The purpose of the present article is to examine the relevance of this notion to scientific research on ASD. On the assumption that one crucial survival advantage of intelligent activity is vigilance toward dangers in the external world, and such vigilance must work in the social domain as well as in the non-social domain, the author argues that the pattern of operation of an individual person's mind can be categorized according to the domain toward which that individual is more oriented. Individuals with ASD, overall, do not rely upon their social relationships but rather are predisposed to process perceived non-social objects in more depth, which manifests itself as hyper-sensation and hyper-attention to detail. It can be assumed that underconnectivity among cortical areas and subcortical areas underlies such mental operation neurologically. One of the main predictions based on this assumption is that all facets of psychological function are susceptible to disruption in ASD. Indeed, it has traditionally been thought that there are such general deficits in this disorder. However, contrary to the prevalent belief that people with ASD lack empathy, in fact people with ASD are capable of empathizing with the minds of others if those others are people with ASD. Thus, the neurological underconnectivity in ASD certainly leads some processing of information in the mind to work with less coordination, but has in fact contributed to providing Homo sapiens with behavioural variants. Finally, the clinical implications of the advantages of viewing ASD as a variation in neurodiversity are discussed.

Biomarkers to assess potential developmental immunotoxicity in children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luster, Michael I.; Johnson, Victor J.; Yucesoy, Berran; Simeonova, Petia P.

2005-01-01

Clinical tests are readily available for assessing severe loss of immune function in children with diseases such as AIDS or primary immunodeficiency. However tests that could reliably identify subtle immune changes, as might be expected to result from exposure to developmental immunotoxic agents, are not readily available. A number of tests are described which we believe have potential applicability for epidemiological studies involving developmental immunotoxicity. Several of the tests, such as T cell receptor rearrangement excision circles (TRECs) and cytokine measurements, while highly relevant from a biological standpoint, may be precluded from use at the current time, for either technical issues or insufficient validation. Immunophenotyping and measurement of serum immunoglobulin levels, on the other hand, are well validated. Yet they may require extraordinary care in experimental design and technical performance in order to obtain data that would consistently detect subtle changes, as these tests are not generally considered highly sensitive. Quantification of the immune response to childhood vaccine, while up to the present used sparingly, may represent an excellent indicator for developmental immunotoxicity when conducted under appropriate conditions

Body plan of turtles: an anatomical, developmental and evolutionary perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagashima, Hiroshi; Kuraku, Shigehiro; Uchida, Katsuhisa; Kawashima-Ohya, Yoshie; Narita, Yuichi; Kuratani, Shigeru

2012-03-01

The evolution of the turtle shell has long been one of the central debates in comparative anatomy. The turtle shell consists of dorsal and ventral parts: the carapace and plastron, respectively. The basic structure of the carapace comprises vertebrae and ribs. The pectoral girdle of turtles sits inside the carapace or the rib cage, in striking contrast to the body plan of other tetrapods. Due to this topological change in the arrangement of skeletal elements, the carapace has been regarded as an example of evolutionary novelty that violates the ancestral body plan of tetrapods. Comparing the spatial relationships of anatomical structures in the embryos of turtles and other amniotes, we have shown that the topology of the musculoskeletal system is largely conserved even in turtles. The positional changes seen in the ribs and pectoral girdle can be ascribed to turtle-specific folding of the lateral body wall in the late developmental stages. Whereas the ribs of other amniotes grow from the axial domain to the lateral body wall, turtle ribs remain arrested axially. Marginal growth of the axial domain in turtle embryos brings the morphologically short ribs in to cover the scapula dorsocaudally. This concentric growth appears to be induced by the margin of the carapace, which involves an ancestral gene expression cascade in a new location. These comparative developmental data allow us to hypothesize the gradual evolution of turtles, which is consistent with the recent finding of a transitional fossil animal, Odontochelys, which did not have the carapace but already possessed the plastron.

Generalized resistance to thyroid hormone associated with a mutation in the ligand-binding domain of the human thyroid hormone receptor β

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakurai, A.; Takeda, K.; Ain, K.; Ceccarelli, P.; Nakai, A.; Seino, S.; Bell, G.I.; Refetoff, S.; DeGroot, L.J.

1989-01-01

The syndrome of generalized resistance to thyroid hormone is characterized by elevated circulating levels of thyroid hormone in the presence of an overall eumetabolic state and failure to respond normally to triiodothyronine. The authors have evaluated a family with inherited generalized resistance to thyroid hormone for abnormalities in the thyroid hormone nuclear receptors. A single guanine → cytosine replacement in the codon for amino acid 340 resulted in a glycine → arginine substitution in the hormone-binding domain of one of two alleles of the patient's thyroid hormone nuclear receptor β gene. In vitro translation products of this mutant human thyroid hormone nuclear receptor β gene did not bind triiodothyronine. Thus, generalized resistance to thyroid hormone can result from expression of an abnormal thyroid hormone nuclear receptor molecule

Family Medicine Global Health Fellowship Competencies: A Modified Delphi Study.

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Rayess, Fadya El; Filip, Anna; Doubeni, Anna; Wilson, Calvin; Haq, Cynthia; Debay, Marc; Anandarajah, Gowri; Heffron, Warren; Jayasekera, Neil; Larson, Paul; Dahlman, Bruce; Valdman, Olga; Hunt, Vince

2017-02-01

Many US medical schools and family medicine departments have responded to a growing interest in global health by developing global health fellowships. However, there are no guidelines or consensus statements outlining competencies for global health fellows. Our objective was to develop a mission and core competencies for Family Medicine Global Health Fellowships. A modified Delphi technique was used to develop consensus on fellowship competencies. A panel, comprised of 13 members with dual expertise in global health and medical education, undertook an iterative consensus process, followed by peer review, from April to December 2014. The panel developed a mission statement and identified six domains for family medicine global health fellowships: patient care, medical knowledge, professionalism, communication and leadership, teaching, and scholarship. Each domain includes a set of core and program-specific competencies. The family medicine global health competencies are intended to serve as an educational framework for the design, implementation, and evaluation of individual family medicine global health fellowship programs.

Effect of Developmental Stimulation Program on the Developmental Measures of Toddlers

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Elahe Ghayebie

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Background: The variability in the developmental skills is reduced after the first three years of life; therefore, it is necessary to identify and manage early developmental delays. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of developmental stimulation program on the developmental measures of the toddlers. Method: The present randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 31 toddlers aged 1-3 years residing at Ali Asghar Foster Care Center within 2016-2017. Developmental interventions were carried out based on the modified guidelines of West Virginia Early Learning Standards Framework for eight weeks (three 2-hour sessions a week. The interventions included a range of age- and developmental-specific activities described in the given guidelines. Child development age was measured based on motor dimensions (i.e., gross and fine and language development (i.e., receptive and expressive before and after the intervention. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 11 using independent t-test and Chi-square test. Results: The mean ages of the participants in the control and intervention groups were 19.9±5.5 and 20±6.02, respectively (P=0.62. The mean ages of receptive language development (P=0.003, expressive language development (P

Protein domain organisation: adding order.

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Kummerfeld, Sarah K; Teichmann, Sarah A

2009-01-29

Domains are the building blocks of proteins. During evolution, they have been duplicated, fused and recombined, to produce proteins with novel structures and functions. Structural and genome-scale studies have shown that pairs or groups of domains observed together in a protein are almost always found in only one N to C terminal order and are the result of a single recombination event that has been propagated by duplication of the multi-domain unit. Previous studies of domain organisation have used graph theory to represent the co-occurrence of domains within proteins. We build on this approach by adding directionality to the graphs and connecting nodes based on their relative order in the protein. Most of the time, the linear order of domains is conserved. However, using the directed graph representation we have identified non-linear features of domain organization that are over-represented in genomes. Recognising these patterns and unravelling how they have arisen may allow us to understand the functional relationships between domains and understand how the protein repertoire has evolved. We identify groups of domains that are not linearly conserved, but instead have been shuffled during evolution so that they occur in multiple different orders. We consider 192 genomes across all three kingdoms of life and use domain and protein annotation to understand their functional significance. To identify these features and assess their statistical significance, we represent the linear order of domains in proteins as a directed graph and apply graph theoretical methods. We describe two higher-order patterns of domain organisation: clusters and bi-directionally associated domain pairs and explore their functional importance and phylogenetic conservation. Taking into account the order of domains, we have derived a novel picture of global protein organization. We found that all genomes have a higher than expected degree of clustering and more domain pairs in forward and

Protein domain organisation: adding order

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kummerfeld Sarah K

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Domains are the building blocks of proteins. During evolution, they have been duplicated, fused and recombined, to produce proteins with novel structures and functions. Structural and genome-scale studies have shown that pairs or groups of domains observed together in a protein are almost always found in only one N to C terminal order and are the result of a single recombination event that has been propagated by duplication of the multi-domain unit. Previous studies of domain organisation have used graph theory to represent the co-occurrence of domains within proteins. We build on this approach by adding directionality to the graphs and connecting nodes based on their relative order in the protein. Most of the time, the linear order of domains is conserved. However, using the directed graph representation we have identified non-linear features of domain organization that are over-represented in genomes. Recognising these patterns and unravelling how they have arisen may allow us to understand the functional relationships between domains and understand how the protein repertoire has evolved. Results We identify groups of domains that are not linearly conserved, but instead have been shuffled during evolution so that they occur in multiple different orders. We consider 192 genomes across all three kingdoms of life and use domain and protein annotation to understand their functional significance. To identify these features and assess their statistical significance, we represent the linear order of domains in proteins as a directed graph and apply graph theoretical methods. We describe two higher-order patterns of domain organisation: clusters and bi-directionally associated domain pairs and explore their functional importance and phylogenetic conservation. Conclusion Taking into account the order of domains, we have derived a novel picture of global protein organization. We found that all genomes have a higher than expected

Promoting positive human development and social justice: Integrating theory, research and application in contemporary developmental science.

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Lerner, Richard M

2015-06-01

The bold claim that developmental science can contribute to both enhancing positive development among diverse individuals across the life span and promoting social justice in their communities, nations and regions is supported by decades of theoretical, methodological and research contributions. To explain the basis of this claim, I describe the relational developmental systems (RDS) metamodel that frames contemporary developmental science, and I present an example of a programme of research within the adolescent portion of the life span that is associated with this metamodel and is pertinent to promoting positive human development. I then discuss methodological issues associated with using RDS-based models as frames for research and application. Finally, I explain how the theoretical and methodological ideas associated with RDS thinking may provide the scholarly tools needed by developmental scientists seeking to contribute to human thriving and to advance social justice in the Global South. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

Early Generalized Overgrowth in Boys With Autism

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Chawarska, Katarzyna; Campbell, Daniel; Chen, Lisha; Shic, Frederick; Klin, Ami; Chang, Joseph

2016-01-01

Context Multiple studies have reported an overgrowth in head circumference (HC) in the first year of life in autism. However, it is unclear whether this phenomenon is independent of overall body growth and whether it is associated with specific social or cognitive features. Objectives To examine the trajectory of early HC growth in autism compared with control groups; to assess whether HC growth in autism is independent of height and weight growth during infancy; and to examine HC growth from birth to 24 months in relationship to social, verbal, cognitive, and adaptive functioning levels. Design Retrospective study. Setting A specialized university-based clinic. Participants Boys diagnosed as having autistic disorder (n=64), pervasive developmental disorder–not otherwise specified (n=34), global developmental delay (n=13), and other developmental problems (n=18) and typically developing boys (n=55). Main Outcome Measures Age-related changes in HC, height, and weight between birth and age 24 months; measures of social, verbal, and cognitive functioning at age 2 years. Results Compared with typically developing controls, boys with autism were significantly longer by age 4.8 months, had a larger HC by age 9.5 months, and weighed more by age 11.4 months (P=.05 for all). None of the other clinical groups showed a similar overgrowth pattern. Boys with autism who were in the top 10% of overall physical size in infancy exhibited greater severity of social deficits (P=.009) and lower adaptive functioning (P=.03). Conclusions Boys with autism experienced accelerated HC growth in the first year of life. However, this phenomenon reflected a generalized process affecting other morphologic features, including height and weight. The study highlights the importance of studying factors that influence not only neuronal development but also skeletal growth in autism. PMID:21969460

Europlexus: a domain decomposition method in explicit dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faucher, V.; Hariddh, Bung; Combescure, A.

2003-01-01

Explicit time integration methods are used in structural dynamics to simulate fast transient phenomena, such as impacts or explosions. A very fine analysis is required in the vicinity of the loading areas but extending the same method, and especially the same small time-step, to the whole structure frequently yields excessive calculation times. We thus perform a dual Schur domain decomposition, to divide the global problem into several independent ones, to which is added a reduced size interface problem, to ensure connections between sub-domains. Each sub-domain is given its own time-step and its own mesh fineness. Non-matching meshes at the interfaces are handled. An industrial example demonstrates the interest of our approach. (authors)

Prediction Reweighting for Domain Adaptation.

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Shuang Li; Shiji Song; Gao Huang

2017-07-01

There are plenty of classification methods that perform well when training and testing data are drawn from the same distribution. However, in real applications, this condition may be violated, which causes degradation of classification accuracy. Domain adaptation is an effective approach to address this problem. In this paper, we propose a general domain adaptation framework from the perspective of prediction reweighting, from which a novel approach is derived. Different from the major domain adaptation methods, our idea is to reweight predictions of the training classifier on testing data according to their signed distance to the domain separator, which is a classifier that distinguishes training data (from source domain) and testing data (from target domain). We then propagate the labels of target instances with larger weights to ones with smaller weights by introducing a manifold regularization method. It can be proved that our reweighting scheme effectively brings the source and target domains closer to each other in an appropriate sense, such that classification in target domain becomes easier. The proposed method can be implemented efficiently by a simple two-stage algorithm, and the target classifier has a closed-form solution. The effectiveness of our approach is verified by the experiments on artificial datasets and two standard benchmarks, a visual object recognition task and a cross-domain sentiment analysis of text. Experimental results demonstrate that our method is competitive with the state-of-the-art domain adaptation algorithms.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LESION LOCATION AND COGNITIVE DOMAINS IN ACUTE ISCHEMIC STROKE PATIENTS

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Vojislava Bugarski

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Localization of brain lesions in acute ischemic stroke has a significant effect on performance in various cognitive domains. The aim of the study was to determine whether there is association between different locations of ischemic brain lesions and different cognitive domains. The study included 40 acute ischemic stroke pati-ents (26 male and 14 female, aged 45-78 years, with 8-16 years of education. Lesi-on location was visualized using brain computerized tomography, whereas perfor-mance in different cognitive domains was assessed using an extensive neuropsychological test battery. The following domains were evaluated: executive function, language, immediate recall, delayed recall, attention, divergent reasoning, and visual-constructive performance in two dimensions. A series of categorical re-gression analyses were applied. The results showed a significant association between the domains of executive function and language and a set of predictors rela-ted to lesion location. Global brain atrophy was found to be a significant partial pre-dictor of performance in all cognitive domains, with higher degrees of global brain atrophy correlating with poorer performance in each of the studied domains. Combi-ned (cortical-subcortical lesions and unilateral lesions were both found to be signi-ficant partial predictors for language, with a higher lesion load being associated with poorer language performance. Combined lesions were also a significant partial pre-dictor for delayed recall, with a higher lesion load correlating with poorer perfor-mance in the delayed recall domain.

'Disaster day': global health simulation teaching.

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Mohamed-Ahmed, Rayan; Daniels, Alex; Goodall, Jack; O'Kelly, Emily; Fisher, James

2016-02-01

As society diversifies and globalisation quickens, the importance of teaching global health to medical undergraduates increases. For undergraduates, the majority of exposure to 'hands-on' teaching on global health occurs during optional elective periods. This article describes an innovative student-led initiative, 'Disaster Day', which used simulation to teach global health to undergraduates. The teaching day began with an introduction outlining the work of Médecins Sans Frontières and the basic principles of resuscitation. Students then undertook four interactive simulation scenarios: Infectious Diseases in a Refugee Camp, Natural Disaster and Crush Injury, Obstetric Emergency in a Low-Income Country, and Warzone Gunshot Wound. Sessions were facilitated by experienced doctors and fourth-year students who had been trained in the delivery of the scenarios. Students completed pre- and post-session evaluation forms that included the self-rating of confidence in eight learning domains (using a five-point Likert scale). Twenty-seven students voluntarily attended the session, and all provided written feedback. Analysis of the pre- and post-session evaluations demonstrated statistically significant improvements in confidence across all but one domains (Wilcoxon signed rank test). Free-text feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with students appreciating the practical aspect of the scenarios. For undergraduates, the majority of exposure to 'hands-on' teaching on global health occurs during optional elective periods Simulation-based teaching can provide students with 'hands-on' exposure to global health in a controlled, reproducible fashion and appears to help develop their confidence in a variety of learning domains. The more widespread use of such teaching methods is encouraged: helping tomorrow's doctors develop insight into global health challenges may produce more rounded clinicians capable of caring for more culturally diverse populations. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons

Perflurooctanoic Acid Induces Developmental Cardiotoxicity in Chicken Embryos and Hatchlings

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Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a widespread environmental contaminant that is detectable in serum of the general U.S. population. PFOA is a known developmental toxicant that induces mortality in mammalian embryos and is thought to induce toxicity via interaction with the peroxi...

Changepoint detection in base-resolution methylome data reveals a robust signature of methylated domain landscape.

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Yokoyama, Takao; Miura, Fumihito; Araki, Hiromitsu; Okamura, Kohji; Ito, Takashi

2015-08-12

Base-resolution methylome data generated by whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) is often used to segment the genome into domains with distinct methylation levels. However, most segmentation methods include many parameters to be carefully tuned and/or fail to exploit the unsurpassed resolution of the data. Furthermore, there is no simple method that displays the composition of the domains to grasp global trends in each methylome. We propose to use changepoint detection for domain demarcation based on base-resolution methylome data. While the proposed method segments the methylome in a largely comparable manner to conventional approaches, it has only a single parameter to be tuned. Furthermore, it fully exploits the base-resolution of the data to enable simultaneous detection of methylation changes in even contrasting size ranges, such as focal hypermethylation and global hypomethylation in cancer methylomes. We also propose a simple plot termed methylated domain landscape (MDL) that globally displays the size, the methylation level and the number of the domains thus defined, thereby enabling one to intuitively grasp trends in each methylome. Since the pattern of MDL often reflects cell lineages and is largely unaffected by data size, it can serve as a novel signature of methylome. Changepoint detection in base-resolution methylome data followed by MDL plotting provides a novel method for methylome characterization and will facilitate global comparison among various WGBS data differing in size and even species origin.

Multilevel domain decomposition for electronic structure calculations

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